Published: 14 May 2026

Chapter 29 – Johnny Logan and Stakeouts

When we woke up the next morning, it was nearly 10:00, so we got dressed quickly and drove to a restaurant to have breakfast. As we were eating, we decided to discuss what we were going to do while watching for anyone that might look suspicious while we were on stakeout later.

“I don’t think the thieves will be breaking into the dorms during the day,” Devin began, “because it would be too easy for them to be spotted, since there will be quite a few people moving about on campus. Many of the administrators and staff members will still be working, and the professors might be on campus as well, as they prepare for classes to start, and the campus cops will also be making their rounds. Chances are, the thieves struck at night when they broke into those places during Thanksgiving break, and they were probably all wearing dark clothing at the time, so they’d be less obvious.”

“Then we’ll split up like we talked about earlier and each of us will fly back and forth between two different locations so we’ll have a better chance of spotting unauthorized activity.”

“Yes, we’ll do that at night and then sleep during the day, although I know that you want to spend some time at the library so you’ll be able to find out more about Johnny Logan.”

“Yes, that’s very important to me, because I want to learn about how he died and if he had any relatives that might still be alive.”

“Ok, that’s fine with me.”

When our discussion ended, we decided it was a good time to go to the Old Town Library and do what we can to find the information that we’re looking for. After doing that, we’ll take a nap before going on stakeout, so I grabbed my laptop and we made our way to the library.

Once we arrived there, I realized that we didn’t have any idea how to begin our search. We had no idea which newspapers might have the information we were looking for or where the copies of the older newspapers were kept, so after talking it over, we decided to ask a librarian for assistance.

“Excuse me, Miss, but could you help us? We’re hoping to find any information the library might have about a young man who died some time ago. We thought we might be able to find what we’re looking for in old newspaper articles

“I should be able to assist you with that, but I’ll need a little more information first. What can you tell me about the person that might help me decide where to have you begin your search?”

“He died on January 23, 1969, and we’re hoping to find his obituary and any other articles that might tell us about his cause of death and the names of any of his family members.”

“Is there a reason you want this information?”

“Yes, there is. We accidentally came across something that once belonged to him and we hoped to contact a relative so we can tell them about it.”

“That’s very commendable, and now that you’ve told me when he died, I’ll need you to tell me where he lived at the time of his death.”

“He lived his entire life and died right here in Fort Collins.”

“Ok, now I have a general idea about where to start. You see, over the years Fort Collins has had several small newspapers, so I have to decide which one might have the information you’re seeking. I should warn you, though, that you may have to look through several different sources to locate the information that you want, but I believe the best place to start will be with the “Colorado Daily”. That was a weekly newspaper which was published from 1952 to 1973, so it overlaps the time period you mentioned, although I can’t guarantee it will have the information that you’re hoping to find.”

“Will that newspaper have an obituary section?”

“Yes, but only if the family was ok with making the information public. Occasionally, the family members might wish to keep the news of a loved one’s death confidential, for various reasons. However, most people wanted the obituary printed so distant relatives, friends, and casual acquaintances could learn what happened to the person they knew, but hadn’t seen in a while.”

“Why wouldn’t the family just call those people instead?”

“They might contact close relatives and tell them about a death in the family, but if they’re grieving the loss of a loved one, they probably wouldn’t be in the mood to get in touch with everyone. Those closest to the deceased also have other duties that they need attending to, such as scheduling the time and place for the calling hours, along with making the funeral arrangements. They’re probably also very busy dealing with personal matters, while also grieving the loss of their loved one, so publishing the obituary would take care of notifying everyone else.”

“Would the other people have access to a newspaper back then?”

“Yes, a majority of the people living in the county would subscribe to whatever newspaper was in print during that time, since Fort Collins is the county seat of Larimer County. And if they didn’t subscribe to the paper, there were other ways they could read it. They might’ve had access to a copy through another family member or possibly a close friend. Or they might have frequented a business, like a diner, a beauty shop, or a doctor’s office, that had a copy they could read.”

“Well, I’m glad it’s a weekly newspaper,” Devin stated, “because it means there will be fewer issues that we’ll have to look through.” His comment caused the librarian to smile.

“Yes, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it, but you won’t be dealing with a printed copy of the newspaper. We have those issues stored on microfilm.”

She then led us back to an area where they stored the various rolls of microfilm in metal file cabinets, and although the cabinets are similar to those used for paper documents, there are also basic differences. Both types are approximately the same height, but a microfilm file cabinet is wider and each drawer is about one third as tall as a drawer in a file cabinet for paper documents. We watched as she perused the labels on each of the drawers that stated the newspaper’s name and the dates of the first and last issue stored on the reels in that drawer.

Once she determined the correct drawer for the Colorado Daily, she pulled the drawer out and we could see that each reel was stored in its own box that was placed upright in the drawer. Each box also had its own label with the name of the newspaper and dates of the first and last issue on that reel, and after perusing the labels, she selected one of the boxes.

“If you look at the dates on the label, you’ll see that this reel covers the dates around the day of this person’s death.” She then led us to a table equipped with a ScanPro microform reader, which can be used to peruse both microfilm and microfiche.

“Let me show you how to use this,” she said before demonstrating how to load the reel onto the spool so it was rotating in a clockwise manner. Then, she threaded the film through the glass slate, which consists of two glass plates where you’d put a microfiche or thread a microfilm document to read. After successfully completing that step, she instructed us on how to attach the film onto the fixed spool on the other side of the ScanPro. She then instructed us on how to manipulate the image on the monitor connected to the ScanPro. She also explained that we could print copies of any pages that we might want to keep, for a slight fee.

“I suggest you start with this reel, and if you don’t find what you’re looking for on that one, just find me and we’ll try another publication.”

“Ok, and thank you for your help.”

After we started spooling through the various pages, we noted the date on each issue first, to make sure it was printed after Johnny’s death. Eventually, we came to the one dated January 27, 1969 and immediately began searching for the obituary section. We located it near the back of the newspaper and it didn’t take very long before we spotted the obituary for Johnny Logan – well sort of.

What we saw was the obituary for a person named John Robert Logan, so we checked the dates given for his birth and death. When they matched, we realized it was Johnny’s given name and the very person we were looking for. The obituary also listed the names of his parents, and said he had three older sisters, one younger sister, and a younger brother, followed by their names.

“Damn, it says that both the calling hours and wake were being held at the family farm,” I said somewhat shocked. “I can’t imagine what it would have been like if my parents had held Robert and Melanie’s calling hours at our house.”

“Yes, that would have been rough, but it says the funeral service took place at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and his burial was held at Riverside Cemetery. It also mentions that contributions could be made to help the family pay for the funeral expenses, and it mentions the name of the bank where they could drop off their contribution. His family’s farm must not have been making very much money then, at least not enough to cover the extra expense of a funeral.”

“Or it was just another way for people to help the family out, because funerals can be really expensive for any family, and I’ll bet the same was true back then as well. If you don’t mind, I’d like to go to the cemetery so I can visit Johnny’s grave sometime. I want to see if it has a nice marker, and if it doesn’t, then maybe we can use some of the money from the baseball cards to have one placed there.”

“Yes, that would be a nice gesture,” Devin agreed. “Johnny also had one brother, so maybe we’ll be able to find him, if we can’t locate one of his sisters.”

“Let me do a quick search on my laptop to see if his brother’s name pops up. Yes, here’s a listing for James Edward Logan from Greeley, Colorado, but it’s an obituary. Let me pull it up so we can determine if he was Johnny’s brother.”

I clicked on the link for that obituary and began reading. It didn’t take long before I found out that James Edward was predeceased by his parents, Ernest Charles and Ruth Edith (O’Brien) Logan, a brother John Robert Logan, and a sister, Carol Barbara Giffords. It also stated that he was survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter, along with three sisters, two brothers-in-law, and several nieces and nephews. It also gave the married names for two of his sisters and stated that his other sister was a nun, but it didn’t give a location for where any of his sisters lived.

“Maybe we can contact James’ widow and she can give us the addresses for his sisters.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea and worth a try.”

After copying all of the information about Johnny down on my laptop, I also copied the link for his younger brother’s obituary. After that, we flipped back to the front page of that issue and I noticed a headline that we hadn’t noticed earlier. It read: “Teenager Dies in Accident on Family Farm”, and there was also a photo of Johnny in the article. It was neat to see a photo of what he looked like, and after studying it for a short time, we perused the article hoping it would give us details about how Johnny died.

The article began by explaining that a teenage boy had been working alone at the top of the hay mow in his family’s barn at the time of the accident. It then listed his name and address before stating that he was tossing hay bales down to the floor below so they could be used to feed the cows. The reporter then speculated that Johnny must have lost his balance while doing that task and fell approximately fifteen feet (4.6 m) onto the thick wooden plank floor.

The article went on to state that when Johnny was eventually discovered, it appeared that part of his body had landed on the bales that he’d already tossed down. It also stated that he suffered several broken or dislocated bones during the fall and his head slammed into the floor. This accident occurred sometime before dark on January 20^th, but the boy never regained consciousness and was declared dead on January 23^rd. The medical examiner listed the cause of death as a fractured skull, which resulted in severe damage to his brain, and then it gave some additional details about Johnny’s life.

“Damn, that’s awful and even worse than we thought,” Devin stated. “The poor kid must have suffered for three days!”

“Maybe or maybe not,” I countered. “If he suffered a traumatic brain injury, he was probably unconscious, possibly even in a coma during that time, so hopefully he wasn’t aware of anything other than that he fell, and he didn’t suffer. It must have been devastating for his family, losing a son and brother like that, but at least we now know how he died and what he looked like.”

“Yeah, and he was kinda cute,” Devin added.

As soon as I’d copied down all the relevant information, I decided that I wanted a printed copy of both the obituary and the article, since there was also a photo of Johnny. After hitting the button to have them sent to the printer, we put the reel of microfilm back in its box and placed it back in the same drawer of the file cabinet where the librarian had found it. After that, we went to pay for the copies that we’d printed, and after receiving the copies, we left the library.

“Are we going back to the house?” I asked Devin when we reached the SUV.

“No, I noticed the time and we should get something to eat first,” he replied, and then he drove over to Dominick’s for one of their tasty meals. As usual, we were greeted warmly and received first-class treatment which started the moment we arrived.

“Devin and Michael, it’s nice to see you again and your table is waiting for you,” the maître d’ stated. “I hope you both had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday with your families.”

“Yes, it was wonderful,” Devin replied, “and we hope you and the other employees that work here had a wonderful holiday as well.”

“Thank you, and I know I did, and I’m sure the others did as well. It was very thoughtful of you to ask.”

“But we’re glad to be back here so we can complete our final semester and graduate from CSU,” I added.

“We certainly will miss both of you, so we hope you will visit us from time to time with Isaac and Jacob.”

“It depends on where we get jobs,” Devin replied, “but we’ll probably return to the area from time to time.”

“I certainly hope you do.”

“It doesn’t appear that you’re very busy right now,” I stated.

“No, mainly because it’s a weekday and it’s right after the holiday. This is traditionally a slower time for us.”

“Then maybe we’ll come here tomorrow as well,” Devin offered. “We have to go somewhere to eat, since the dining hall won’t open for another week.”

“Then I’ll add your name to the reservation list with an open time, say between 6:00 and 8:00. Would you like me to do the same for the entire week?”

“Yes, that would be great, but if you don’t mind, please make the reservations for between 5:00 and 6:00, because we’re scheduled to help a friend each evening. It’s why we came back here so early, and we greatly appreciate that you’re doing this for us.”

“I’m glad that I can help. Dominick’s can use the business, so I’ll be glad to do it for you,” he responded before guiding us to a table.

As usual, we had another excellent meal, along with a free dessert, compliments of the house, and when we finished eating, Devin drove us back to the house. When we arrived there, Devin commented before we went inside.

“I was hoping we could take a short nap before we had to go on duty, but after noticing the time, we’ll have to stay awake for as long as we can tonight.”

“Yes, it looks like it won’t be long before it starts getting dark, and even though we had coffee with our meal, maybe we should make a pot and have a couple more cups to help us stay alert until morning. I can make a pot, because there’s plenty of coffee left in the container we purchased after Thanksgiving. We also cleaned the coffee maker before we left for Christmas break, so I’ll head into the kitchen and get things started.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

While we were waiting for the coffee to brew, we chatted about the information that we’d discovered earlier. “Johnny’s brother, James, didn’t move very far away from Fort Collins,” I began.

“No, it seems he didn’t, and possibly that’s where his parents moved after Johnny died. Maybe it was just too difficult for them to remain on the farm with the memory of his tragic death.”

“Yeah, you might be right.”

Before we got ready to leave the house, Devin and I each drank two more cups of coffee hoping it would help us stay awake, and then we used the toilet before we got undressed. “How do you want to do this?” I asked.

“Well, Great Horned Owls are mostly brown, so we shouldn’t be too obvious flying about. They’re also known for near-silent flight, so we should be able to take off from just outside of the back door. We’ll fly together until we reach the campus, and then we’ll split up to go to our designated areas. We’re both going to cover two locations, in order to keep an eye on as much of the campus as possible, and if either of us spots something, then we’ll just have to make mental notes about our observations.”

“We won’t be able to get much information about what the guys look like if they’re wearing ski masks, which would be common equipment people living around her might own. However, we should be able to note their license plate numbers and get a description of any vehicles they use, if they drive to campus.”

“And we should also be able to note some details about the suspects, even if they are wearing a disguise, such as how many there are and their height and build. We shouldn’t try to follow them, though, unless we’re together, and we wouldn’t be able to confront or apprehend them, because if we transition, we’d be naked. That means we’d have to go back to the house first to get dressed, so we’d be better off just to notify the campus cops about any information we might have about them. However, if we’re not too conspicuous, we might be able to follow them back to where they live, so we can give that information to the campus cops as well.”

“Why are you so worried about us following them? They won’t be suspicious of an owl, even if it seems to be following them.”

“Maybe not, but we might be risking an attack by another nocturnal predator. My guess is that your attention would be focused on the thieves and you’d be oblivious to any other threats that might appear, and it would be difficult for me to warn you if I saw one coming.”

“Won’t we be facing that same possibility anyways, as long as we’re doing this?”

“Yes, I guess you’re right, so just be careful if you do that, and if a threat appears just be ready to transition into a larger bird that can navigate in the dark until the threat passes. I believe the largest bird that we’d be able to transition into is an albatross, so are you familiar with them?”

“Not really, but isn’t an albatross a seabird that would be out of place around here?”

“Yes, but if there’s an arial threat, an albatross would be our best bet for surviving an attack, so let’s do a quick search on your laptop and study the photos and go over the information about them. We both have to feel comfortable about transitioning into one, even if it might seem out of place around here.”

We then looked up and studied several photos of albatrosses, and we also looked up specific information about them. “The article states that they’re larger than an eagle and closer in size to the Andean Condor,” Devin pointed out. “It also says that they soar in the air using thermals, although we probably won’t be flying high enough to take advantage of doing that. Just be careful and keep that in the back of your mind in an emergency. Oh, and if you’re on the ground and the threat is from a mammal, then either fly away from the threat or transition into an animal that can either scare it away or fight it off.”

“And we’ll need a spot where we can meet up when it starts to get light out,” I mentioned. “So, how about the roof of the dining hall?”

“Yes, that would be a good place to meet up, so I’ll see you there at daybreak. And after we fly back to the house, I suggest we land on the side of the house that’s farthest away from Louella’s house, so she won’t accidentally notice something that doesn’t seem right.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point, since she’s normally suspicious about everything that happens on our side of the fence.”

After turning off the light in the kitchen, we exited through the back door, and after Devin locked the door and hid the key, we transitioned into Great Horned Owls and flew to the campus.

I didn’t see anything suspicious during the time that I spent flying back and forth between the two locations I’d agreed to cover, so I wondered if Devin was having any luck. As the first shards of sunlight began to pierce the darkness that surrounded me, I flew toward the dining hall, landed on the roof, and waited for Devin to join me.

He arrived a few minutes later, and then we flew back to the house together. After we landed on the grass, we waddled over to the back door as owls, and once we were under the overhang, we transitioned back, into ourselves. Devin then retrieved the key from where he hid it and unlocked the door. He held it open for me to enter, and once we were both inside, we finally turned on a light and sat down at the kitchen counter so we could chat.

“Did you see anything?” I asked.

“No, how about you.”

“Nothing for me either.”

“Well, maybe tomorrow night will be more productive. I’m starving. Is there anything in the house that we can eat?”

“I’m not sure. I know there’s nothing in the fridge, and we’ve never kept much in the freezer, so let’s see what’s in the pantry.”

We eventually found a partial box of Honey Nut Cheerios, and since we knew we didn’t have any milk to go with them, we merely took turns grabbing handfuls and eating the cheerios dry.

“Do you want water or coffee to wash them down?” I asked.

“Water. I want to be able to go to sleep after this, not get even more wired and forced to stay up all day long as well. I certainly hope this doesn’t become a problem after all the coffee that we drank earlier.”

“Good point, but I think the effects from the coffee should’ve already worn off, because I’m starting to feel sleepy.”

“Yeah, I guess I am too.”

After I got each of us a bottle of water, we began discussing if we’d have to continue doing this until classes start. “Do you think we’ll have to do this all week long, including over the three-day holiday weekend, or do you think they’ll strike before then?”

“I have no idea if the thieves will try to break in to any of the buildings on campus, so we may have to do this all week long. But whether or not we’ll have to continue doing this over the holiday weekend will depend on when the other students start returning en masse. They may begin returning any time from Friday through Monday, but as soon as there are a sufficient number of students to act as a deterrent to the thieves, the sooner we can stop our stakeout duty.”

“Does that mean we might have a chance to get back on a normal schedule again before classes start on Tuesday?”

“That will also depend on whether most of the other students are serious about their studies or if they’re party animals. If they’re consumed with drinking and having a good time, then the robbers could still try hitting the dorms and taking all of the things that the students brought back with them. Those having a good time might be oblivious to other people moving in and out of the dorms thinking they are merely other students taking things out of the dorms. They might assume they’re taking those items to show their friends, or just taking them to give to their parents to take home when they leave. The students might be so oblivious to what’s going on or just totally out of it that they don’t realize that the thieves are brazen enough to do it out in the open and right under their noses.”

“Ok, but if we have to keep this up over next weekend and we’ll be up all night on stakeout on Monday, then it’s going to be difficult for us to stay awake in class on Tuesday.”

“Yes, you’re right about that, so we probably should just plan on dropping the stakeout on Monday night, so we can get a good night’s sleep and get back on a schedule. That will allow us to attend the first day of classes and also stay awake.”

“Sounds good to me, so let’s get some shuteye.”

I set the alarm on my phone before we laid down, so we slept for roughly eight hours before it went off, and then we hurriedly showered and got dressed so we could head over to Dominick’s to get something to eat. After the maître ‘d greeted us, he made an interesting comment.

“Seeing this is a slow season for us and you’re eating earlier than most of our other patrons, you may have the dining room all to yourself on some days.”

“I hope that doesn’t cause your waitstaff to fight over who will be taking care of us,” Devin stated.

“They may, since they know you’re good tippers, but whatever table I seat you at will be in a section assigned to a specific server. They all know better than to infringe on someone else’s station, but they may stop by to say hello or to chat briefly, if they don’t have a lot to do. If they stay too long, though, someone will be sure to send them back to their own station.”

As usual, we got special treatment and had a wonderful meal, and when we finished eating, we decided to do a little grocery shopping before heading back to the house. We had to purchase enough items so we could have a quick breakfast at the house before going to sleep.

As we were shopping, I asked Devin a question. “When are you planning to start taking Bear to the dog park?”

“I won’t be able to do that until after classes start and I get used to the new routine.”

“Ok, that’s fine with me. I just wanted to know what you were planning.” ”

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the baseball cards and I still have some questions about them?”

“Like what?”

“If Johnny wasn’t born until 1954, he probably would’ve had to be at least seven-years-old before he became interested in baseball or with collecting baseball cards. And since he took such great care of them, I feel he must have been much older than seven. If that was the case, then how did he get all of the cards before the early 1960s?”

“I was curious about that as well, and this is what I came up with. I think his father was a big baseball fan and that’s why he collected the old Goudey baseball cards. I believe that after he got married, he was hoping that he’d have a son who’d be as interested in baseball as he was and they’d have that in common. So, when he first learned that his wife was pregnant, he went out and started buying packs of baseball cards to give to his son.”

“So, you think Johnny’s dad collected baseball cards too?”

“Yes, because that had to be where all of the Goudey cards came from. I also think his dad continued buying packets of cards as he learned about every following pregnancy and kept those packets of cards unopened the entire time. When Johnny was finally born, he waited for Johnny to become old enough, and responsible enough, to care for the cards in those packets, and then he started giving them to Johnny. I believe he also gave Johnny the Goudey cards at a later date, once he saw how much the other cards meant to Johnny and how carefully he cared for them.”

“If his dad was so interested in baseball, then why did he have fewer cards than Johnny?”

“There could have been several reasons for that. First of all, Ernest must have been a boy during the depression, so my guess would be that he didn’t have very much money to spend on those things. I imagine he saved up whatever money he got for doing minor jobs or what he was given for his birthday or Christmas. Another reason might be that the Goudey packs only contained a single card and a stick of gum. It was different with the packs of Topps cards that Johnny was collecting. The 1950 and ‘51 packs had two cards and a caramel, while later packs contained five to twelve cards with a stick of gum.”

“Damn, I wonder if the caramel and gum was still good when Johnny got those packs that his father had been buying.”

“Probably not, but that should explain why there were fewer than a hundred Goudey cards and over two hundred Topps cards.”

“So, do you think the Goudey cards will bring in much money, since they’re not in as good condition as the Topps cards?”

“Once they’re graded, the cards receiving lower grades are usually worth less than the higher graded cards, but other factors come into play as well.”

“Such as what?”

“Well, the cards of players who are in the Hall of Fame would be worth more, along with the rookie cards of famous players. The cards printed in the same year, or the year after, a player has a big accomplishment will also be worth more, but again depending on its grade.”

“You mean if they broke a record, like the number of homeruns they hit?”

“Yes, or a pitcher winning a record number of games or winning the Cy Young Award. The same would apply to a player who wins the MVP Award, a batting title, or broke some other record, such as the number of stolen bases, the number of hits they had, or how many runs they batted in.”

“So, you think some of those cards will be worth a lot?”

“Yes, I believe some of those old Goudey cards, like those for Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig could bring in five, six, seven, and even eight figures. Some of the Topps cards, like the Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays cards could also bring in that much, along with pitchers such as Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver.”

“Damn, then I hope they all sell for a lot of money.”

“I agree and it’s what I’m counting on.”

When we finished shopping and checked out, we drove back to the house and quickly put things away, before heading out on our next shift of watching for the thieves to show up again.

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