TRUTH #S STRANGER
THAN FICTION

*
By
OLDTIMER

*

T WAS ONE of those typical fall
I days we get on the Coast, Slash

fires from nearby logging opera-
tions had hazed the air and dulled the
afternoon sun’s brightness. There was
that acrid tang of wood smoke every-
where and down on the inlet the sea
was leaden and still, littered with
drift. It was the kind of afternoon
when erilse are biting, coho are
taking a bucktail and the hunting
season is just around the next corner.

Quatcum was a nice station and the
two of us, Corporal Jack McCluskey
and I, got along well. Mac had 12
years’ service, the last two at Quatcum.
I had just finished my first three-year
hitch, and this was my first detach-
ment.

We were both in the police office
this afternoon; Mac had just finished
banging out a report on the type-
writer. At least he had picked it out,
for typing wasn’t Mac’s long suit.

I was over at the counter checking
over some deer tags. You know how
the blame things get out of order.
Mac was standing looking out of the
window at the Inlet. We had a grand
view from that window; right across
to Mosquito Island, with the Ko-
matko range, 30 miles away, rising up
behind the island, jagged, cold and
ghost-like in the haze.

I was busy with the numbers on the
tags and wasn’t paying much attention
to Mac until I heard:

“,..and the truth is always stranger
than fiction.”

“What’s that about fiction?” I said,

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Page Forty-eight

The title of this story is apt—for the incidents actually
happened. ‘Cpl. Jack McCluskey” transferred to

R.C.M.P. this year.

dropping the last tag on the wire.

“I said,” repeated Mac, “truth is
always stranger than fiction.”

“Gimme a f’rnstance?” I challenged,
knowing he had something on his
mind.

“Well, now come to think of it, I
can,’ he said, as he turned and
reached in his desk drawer for the
makings. He had a sly, sort of whim-
sical look on his face.

I let him roll his cigarette, and
when he got it going he sank himself
into a swivel chair. He still had that
funny smile.

“I’m going to leave out names,
mind you,” he said, after a drag at
his cigarette, “but the rest of it is
gospel.”

I settled myself in another chair.
The Corporal’s Story

“This happened about 12 years
ago,” he went on, “when I was sta-
tioned at Soda Springs. I had just
joined the police and was still a pro-
bationer. Old Bill Hopkins was in
charge, but he’d gone down to Van-
couver on an escort, and I was left in
charge. And ready to handle any-
thing!”

“Well one night, a few days after
Bill left, a little general store a mile
or two down the road caught fire and
burned to the ground. It was run by a
couple of old batchelors, nice old
fellows. They lived together in a
couple of rooms above the store.

“As soon as I got word of the fire I
whipped off in the police car to help

try and save the building. There was
quite a crowd on hand. But it was no
use. The place was a mass of flames
and in half-an-hour the whole she-
bang had burned to the ground. A
few hours later there were just hot
embers, blackened pots and pans, a
twisted bedstead, and a few charred
beams. Kind of pathetic to see the
old fellows’ stock and trade and their
home all go up at once—so sudden
like.

“There was no sign of the old men
around the fire,” continued Mac,
“and at daylight when things had
cooled off a little I began to explore.
around. Pretty soon I found the re-
mains of the two bodies in the charred
ruins. Mind you, I was very much the
rookie. Up to that time I had never
seen the remains of anyone burned
up in a fire. In fact I hadn’t seen any
remains period!” and Mack gave a
chuckle.

He went on:

“I slipped in a telegram right away
to district headquarters, reporting the
fire and two deaths. And back came a
reply which said in effect, ‘Stand back
McCluskey, better men than you will
handle this.” And on the evening
train in came two sergeants, one with
a record for investigation that was
hard to beat.

Fire Probe

“Well, I just stood around and
watched, figuring I would learn some-
thing. The two of them made what
seemed to me to be a pretty thorough
examination of the fire and they came

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*

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