“Whazzup?” Cormaci asked, cheerfully.
I began to explain. I left out the part about coffee with Joe, and the subsequent cryptic encounter. Cormaci doesn’t know about the Anonymous Source. Some things are best kept secret, especially from one’s editor.
“Would you be so kind as to access an archival copy of the front page of the July 16, 1936, edition of the Los Angeles Times?”
“But of course!” replied Cormaci. “Come on over.”
A few minutes later, I was safely ensconced in the ink-stained bowels of Valley Sun Lane, munching Cormaci’s almonds and reading the computer screen over her shoulder:
SNAKE GETS OUT AT TRIAL...RATTLER LOOSE IN COURTROOM FOLLOWING DEFENDANT’S GOING ON STAND
The article concerned La Cañada’s most famous murder trial — the case of Rattlesnake James.
We read on, together:
The last possible thrill was squeezed out of the Robert James murder trial yesterday.
Lethal, one of the rattlesnakes, escaped in the courtroom during the noon recess...Like a streak of brown quicksilver the reptile slipped under a bookcase. His vicious rattling threw the courtroom into hysteria...
“Shouldn’t there be a comma after brown quicksilver?” I asked.
“No,” said Cormaci.
We continued to read:
A. Pierce Artran, Laguna Beach snake expert, jammed a wastebasket over the snake’s coils. Lethal scuttled away again in a new direction.
“Shouldn’t there be a hyphen between snake and expert?” I persisted.
“No!” exclaimed Cormaci, louder this time.
In a moment, Artran, with the aid of John “Snake Joe” Houtenbrink, jerked a wire noose over Lethal’s head...
“Shouldn’t...” I asked.
“Shh!” said Cormaci.
Then he grabbed the snake at the neck with his hand and held it aloft before onlookers...then Artran put the snake back in the box...
“They sure could write back in the day,” I said.
“Yep,” said Cormaci.
ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada resident. You may e-mail her at yahoo.com">anitasusan.brenner@ yahoo.com.
