The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.
The Boaz Scorekeeper, written in 2017, is my second novel. I'll post it a chapter a day over the next few weeks.
Ever since the vehicle had been extracted from Aurora Lake via a crane and transported to the State Department of Forensic Sciences in Montgomery, rumors had been flying around Boaz. Since the April 27th discovery of what appeared from Jeff Marks’ photos to be a Volkswagen Beetle, tall tales ignited of how a prominent Boaz family, after World War II, had stopped a foreign car dealership from encroaching on its General Motors territory. Speculation surfaced that Vincent Prader and his wife Helga had been murdered and buried in their Beetle in the eastern end of Aurora Lake. Shortly after the tornado and Marks’ photos hit Facebook, a feisty and eager journalist with the Sand Mountain Reporter took to the archives and found a photo and article used in its March 25, 1946 edition. The Reporter refused to republish the article until facts were confirmed but someway a copy of the photo and article made their way to Facebook and the world.
The article was titled Boaz Hero to Open Volkswagen Dealership. The photo revealed a stocky and smiling Vincent Prader in full Army regalia with pinned service awards across his chest standing at the hood of a tan colored 1946 Beetle. The tall, beautiful woman with dark curly hair standing at the rear of the shiny car was his wife Helga. It was clear the photo had been taken on Main Street in Boaz in front of the Rialto Theater. The Best Years of Our Lives, co-starring Fredric March & Myrna Loy, was boldly visible on the Theater’s marquee.
The article described Vincent’s World War II ventures that produced for him both the Medal of Honor for his bravery, and a Purple Heart for his battle wounds. It spoke of how he had rescued Helga Katz in Nuremberg, Germany while U.S. and Allied forces lay siege during the latter days of the War in April 1945. The article described how Vincent and his squad had been instrumental in helping Helga, her family, and several neighbors escape the rubble of a bombed-out Nuremberg and obtain shelter and care in an American camp. There was a long paragraph about how Vincent and Helga had fallen in love, almost at first sight, how they had corresponded by mail after the War ended, and details about Helga’s journey to American in late October 1945. They were married March 21, 1946, just four days before the Sand Mountain Reporter photo.
On May 10, 2018, the rumors were transformed into solid facts. The Department of Forensic Sciences released to the Etowah County Sheriff and District Attorney its final report. Once again, the report found its way to Facebook. The vehicle was a 1946 Volkswagen Type 11 Beetle complete with a 1,131cc OHV Air-Cooled Flat 4-Cylinder Engine, a single solex carburetor, and a 4-Speed Manual Transmission. It contained the skeletal remains of Vincent Prader and his wife Helga Katz Prader. The Report did not reveal how the Department had made this later determination. Nor did it speculate how the Beetle found its way to the bottom of Aurora Lake or how long it had been there. However, it estimated that the Beetle and the two bodies had likely been there since they went missing in March 1946. An autopsy report was included and stated that Vincent and Helga had both died from gunshot wounds to the head.
After I reread the full report, I left the office and drove to McDonald’s for a cup of coffee. Ever since the tornado, I had been contemplating calling Nick Baker with the New York Times. I felt it was time he return to Boaz and research and write the follow-up story to his 1998 piece where he featured the demise of the Outlet Center, the 1972 deaths of Wendi and Cindi Murray, and the then current wrongful death lawsuit by Bill and Nellie Murray against members of five prominent Boaz families. I walked inside, bought a large cup of coffee and an apple pie, and sat outside in an empty playground. Nick Baker answered his phone on the first ring.
The Pencil Driven Life 