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Sheriff Fay F. Brown’s Badge: Bank Bandit

February 12, 2020 by Jim Potter 6 Comments

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Sheriff-Fay-F.-Browns-Badge-Episode-12.mp3

· Sheriff Fay F. Brown’s Badge: Bank Bandit

Bob Collins was a wanted man. Thug, ex-convict, and bank bandit, he was no choir boy. Even his father admitted that as a youth, his son always seemed to be getting into trouble because he was easily influenced.

*

Reno County Sheriff Fay F. Brown, 35, pressed a piece of ice against his jaw. Hutchinson Chief of Police George M. Duckworth, 60, wiped the blood off his pistol. It was April 22, 1927. The two local lawmen had just locked up Robert “Bob” Collins, 30, in the Reno County Jail.

“For a little guy he sure packs a powerful punch,” said Sheriff Brown as he rubbed his jaw. Collins was of small build, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, and weight of 134 pounds. “I should have never dropped my guard until he was safely locked up. I know better. He’s a desperate man.”

“Brownie, we dodged a bullet tonight, I mean this morning,” said George McCamey Duckworth, alias “Came,” checking his pocket watch. It was half past two.

“Came, it was a good plan,” agreed the sheriff. “We outsmarted him, but we were lucky to get the tip that he was staying at the Savoy Rooms.”

“I think he was looking for his sweetie,” said Duckworth, “but I hear she’s in a hospital somewhere out of town after a motor car wreck.”

“It all happened like clockwork,” said Brown, “except for me catching his vicious right. It rocked me to my toes.”

“We got ‘em all right,” said Duckworth. “Every lawman in the state was looking for him. He had to have known he was going to get caught sooner or later.”

“Yeah, and every bank has been expecting him to make an unscheduled large withdrawal,” added Brown.

“If we hadn’t fooled him into believing we were just making another rooming house vice raid, he would have never hidden his .32 caliber in the lounge chair,” stated Duckworth.

“Agreed,” said Brown. “He’s known as a bad actor, a desperado who stops at nothing. If he had known we were on to him, there would have been a shootout. Someone would have died today.”

“He sure doesn’t have much to say now,” said Duckworth. “Wants us to believe his name is Sam Price, but I remember him and his father from my early days as sheriff. Bob went to Sherman school. His father, Eli, owned a livery stable and was a well-respected man.

“In fact,” continued Duckworth, “I remember asking Eli if he was any relation to the first sheriff of Reno County, Charles C. Collins. He said he didn’t think so.”

Fay opened his mouth wide, then closed it, using his tongue to check for chipped or missing teeth.

“Another thing,” said Duckworth as he pointed at a piece of furniture, “have I ever told you that twenty years ago Florence and I used that very side table in our bedroom upstairs?”

Brown said, “By tomorrow we’ll have sheriffs arriving with bank tellers from around the state, Nebraska, and Colorado, all wanting a closer look at our bank bandit.”

“Yeah, especially once they hear about the $5,000 in bills he was hiding in his sock,” said Duckworth. “Good job on your search, Brownie. I’m not sure I would have found the money.”

“I’m just hoping that one of the banks will be able to trace the four $1,000 bills to their establishment,” said Brown. “It would make a nice money trail at a future trial.”

“If Collins has anything to say about it,” said Duckworth, “they’ll never be a trial. He’s done time at the Reformatory, shoveled coal at the State Penitentiary in Lansing, and he’s escaped from the Pratt County Jail. I think he’d rather be dead than return to prison.

“I’ll be sleeping with one eye open,” stated Brown. “We’ll be watching Collins on the inside and expecting his partner in crime, Eddie Jenkins, to try and help him escape from the outside.”

“Good to hear,” said Duckworth. “I thought for sure Jenkins would be with Collins at the Savoy Rooms.”

“Me too, but one in the cell is better than two in the bush,” said the sheriff.

“Collins is desperate; Jenkins is clever,” stated Duckworth. “Remember, Jenkins escaped from Lansing by climbing a telephone pole inside the walls and rolling over on the wires until he was past the prison wall.”

Even though it was past two o’clock in the morning, the sheriff stood up, walked to a window, and in the poor lighting studied the closest telephone pole to the jailhouse.

“Let me know if we can be of help until he’s picked up by another sheriff,” said Duckworth. “I’m going to go home and get some sleep.”

“Came,” said Brownie, “it could be a while until the attorneys determine which county has the strongest case. If you hadn’t given him a good pistol whippin’, he would have been half-way to Dodge in a stolen motor car. Thanks again for coming to my rescue. I owe you one.”

“Brownie, any time; I’m not keeping score,” said Duckworth. “We did a pretty good job for a couple of orphan boys.”

It was something they rarely discussed. Fay was orphaned at age six when his mother died. At age thirteen, George buried his father.

*

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

The Kansas Authors Club www.kansasauthors.org is a statewide organization that encourages and supports great writing. It’s divided into seven districts. In Hutchinson, Reno County (part of District 6), we have monthly meetings at Hutchinson Community College. http://www.hutchcc.edu You’re invited. Questions? Contact Jim Potter, jim@copintheclassroom.com

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Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: Bank Bandit, Bob Collins, Charles C. Collins, Eddie Jenkins, Fay Brown, George M. Duckworth, Jim Potter, Kansas Authors Club, Reno County Jail, Reno County Sheriff, Robert Collins, Savoy Rooms, Sheriff Fay Brown, Sheriff Fay Brown's Badge

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alex says

    February 12, 2020 at 8:32 am

    Wait! Does he escape?

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      February 12, 2020 at 8:38 am

      Stay tuned.

      Reply
      • Marilyn Bolton says

        February 12, 2020 at 10:35 am

        Good read–and I’m hoping I can soon read on!

        Reply
        • Jim Potter says

          February 12, 2020 at 10:45 am

          Thanks for your support, Marilyn!

          Reply
  2. Natai says

    February 15, 2020 at 9:04 am

    Fun fun stuff! I wonder if he’ll escape. Thanks for all your time you give to make this happen 👍

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      February 15, 2020 at 10:38 am

      Thanks for reading and commenting, Natalee.

      Reply

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What People Are Saying

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys.

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Larry Kruckman, anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman
Anthropologist
Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

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