Inside the the Casebook of Elliot Brick:
Inside the the Casebook of Elliot Brick:
Oglebay... that hallowed name and local powerhouse. And with good reason. The Oglebay family was a major benefactor to the area. The sprawling 1500-acre Oglebay resort was a gift to the people of Wheeling from the Oglebay family... Oglebay Institue, America's oldest such foundation for the arts, was started through Oglebay endowments. The Oglebays gave a lot to Wheeling.
(Wheeling) Reclusive Playboy Crispen Wilson Waddington III, a relative of the famous Oglebay family, recently emerged from nearly a lifetime of obscurity and will visit the park that bears his family name soon.
The eccentric millionaire was apparently safari hunting for the elusive desert weasels in Uganda when Oglebay Institute officials got word to him that the Oglebay Diamond was recovered. Waddington dropped his elephant gun and departed the dark continent on the next puddle-jumper, according to officials of the Institute.
Waddington, along with Oglebay Institute Treasurer Endora Norton-Sweeny-Todd, will preside over the Unveiling ceremony on the last Saturday of this month at the Mansion Museum in Oglebay Park.
"I am so glad my family's heirloom has been recovered," Waddington said." This is a perfect opportunity for me to be pompous in public."
Above: Crispen Wilson Waddington III standing in front of the portrait of his famous ancestor, Buford Shenklake Oglebay.
(Wheeling) The legendary Oglebay Diamond, long missing from the collection of Oglebay Institute, was discovered recently by Oglebay Park Grounds Worker Mac McGuffin. The priceless jewel, missing since 1929, was often thought to be merely a hoax. But soon it will be returned to the Oglebay Institute collection.
When asked how he found the gem, McGuffin replied, "I don't know. I was drunk."
The Oglebay Diamond was donated to Oglebay Institute, along with many other important items in the estate of Earl W. Oglebay. It had, however, been missing since 1929 until its accidental discovery just a few weeks ago. It will now be officially turned over to the Institute.
Long discounted by certain historians as mere legend, the eccentric Burton Russell Oglebay was outspoken in his opposition to the jewel's bequeathal to Oglebay Institute. It was thought that he either hidden it or sold it, but nothing could be proven. When it was recently discovered, it was decided that it should replace the Oglebay Cubic Zirconia in the Museum.
Mrs. Norton-Sweeny-Todd and the Institute realize that there is a great promotional opportunity in this discovery. They want to exploit the public relations angle of a ceremonial transfer of the priceless gem from the possession of the lowly park grounds worker to the Institute. But Mrs. Norton-Sweeny-Todd is nervous about the vulnerability of the Diamond during the event. So, in a dubious decision, the Institute hires one of Wheeling's top five private detectives, Elliot Brick, to guard it during the unveiling ceremony.
Last updated: October 9, 2008