Three-Fingered Abe

IN THE POST-PROHIBITION 1930S, CRIMINALS WHO COULD NO LONGER COUNT ON MAKING MONEY FROM BOOTLEGGING BOOZE FROM CANADA INTO THE UNITED STATES TURNED TO A NEW FORM OF CRIME—KIDNAPPING WEALTHY TYCOONS FOR RANSOM. KIDNAPPING WAS NOT A THREAT TO CANADIANS. IN MOST COMMUNITIES, MAJOR CRIMES WERE, FOR THE MOST PART, NON-EXISTENT. WHEN JOE "DOGFACE" EVANS LEFT THE LONDON A&P GROCERY STORE ON A HUMID MID-AUGUST SOUTHERN ONTARIO EVENING IN 1934, HE LOOKED FORWARD TO VISITING FAMILY AND FRIENDS BEFORE HEADING HOME TO OTTAWA. HE DID NOT COUNT ON RUNNING INTO HIS COUSIN MICK, WHO AT SIXTEEN, HAD LEFT SMALL-TOWN ONTARIO TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE IN THE STATES. WITHIN HOURS OF VISITING WITH MICK, JOE'S PLANS WERE OVERRIDDEN BY MICK'S UNEXPECTED BUSINESS OPERATION, AND JOE WAS FACED WITH THE CERTAINTY THAT HE WOULD BECOME A NOTORIOUS ASSOCIATE IN A BLACK ENTERPRISE. Nelson Bryksa lives and works in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He has worked as a sport consultant, environmental planning analyst, and government policy analyst, and has been involved in youth sports for over forty years. Nelson is also the author of The Audistic and Other Stories.