News Report:

INDEPENDENT VOICE OF THE SOUTH

OTAGO DAILY TIMES

WEDNESDAY, February 5,1962

Mystery Parcel Bomb

An innocent Dunedin barrister gets the shock of his life

By ASHLEIGH ALLUM

The clock struck 9 am, on the 5th of February, 1962. It was a warm, sunny morning, as James Patrick Ward once again entered through the sturdy, concrete door. The sun beamed through the arched, glass window blinding him, as he shuffled to the top of the stair case. As his eyes adjusted to glaring light, he made out brown parcel, sitting on top of his office desk top. Excited thoughts rushed through his head, as he creaked into his worn out, moth eaten office chair. Slicing the package open, he could hear his heart beating wildly. Suddenly his ears exploded, the noise was deafening as the building rocked violently. Smoke filled his nostrils, as immense pain shot up through his arm. Tears of agony rolled down his pained face. James Patrick Ward was rushed to hospital. His life flashed before his eyes, as he fell back into world of darkness.

I opened my eyes to a world of black and white. I felt like a feather, light, and free. But I had an empty feeling in my stomach. Everyone shuffled around gloomily, their eyes cold and grey with sadness. Tears rolled down their sorrowed faces. The operation room was silent. I swallowed a lump in my throat. The surgeon was standing over me, his worried face, burning into my eyes. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I looked at my silent body, lying dead on the white surgeons bed. The smell was horrific. Rotting, dead meat, wafts up my nose. The red blood, soaked through the sheets, turning brown, as the minutes slowly pass. I watched, as the doctor slowly turned around, a grim expression, plastered onto his worn out face. He speaks very quietly, but deliberately, telling the upset crowd the unfortunate news.

My name is James Patrick Ward. I am now a ghost.

If you are walking down by Moray Place, look up at the arched window, for my ghostly face peering out at you, and remember this uneventful tale, on that sunny morning, the Fifth of February, 1962.