Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-08-12
Continued From First Page

In Jne police room on the
Union Station concourse, the de-
tective started to send for a
police matron. Willie Mae sighed.
reached into her brassiere and
pulled out a brown paper bag.
In it were two glasSine sacks of
white powder-two ounces of
heroin.
The detectives still had one
quarry in mind-the limping
man. At headquarters, Willie
Mae said she was willing to CO.
operate but she did all her busi-
ness on the street. The other
woman. an addict We'll call
Betty, said she'd do anything to
help her friend Willie Mae.
What can you do?" Detective
Holcomb asked her.
Il can cop (buy heroin) from
Jackie" she replied.
Agrees to Make a BUY"
The detectives got interested.
Jackie was the alias for Clara
belle Wright and Clarabelle, &C
cording to their informer, did
business with the limping man.
Gould you make a buy right
now?"
Yes. the addict had an address
for Clarabelle. Yes, she could go
now.
1t was 2:45 am. The detectives
gave her SO in marked money.
They let her out just below
Seventeenth and Corcoran
streets and rolled back to the
corner to watch her. They saw
her knock on the door of 1926
Corcoran street NV.
She was out again in five
minutes and walking briskly up
the street. The detectives waited
a few minutes to be sure no one
had come out to check on her.
"She's scored!" Detective Pa
META told his partner.
Warrant for Clarabelle
On the strength of the buy
and her sworn statement, they
got a warrant TO rthe arrest of
Clarabelle Wright.
At 1890 am. the next day,
July 25, they picked up Betty
again. This could be their big
day. They didn't know then how
big.
Again, they handed her marked
bills. Once more she went through
her performance on Corcoran
street. No wthey were ready to
move.
Reinforcements arrived-Fed-
eral agents and Plainclothesmen
Thomas Didone, jr.. and Dante
A. Longo. They synchronized
thei rwatches. At 1880 am.
they raped simultaneously at
the front and back doris of Apart
ment A. They could hear a COM
motion inside. They couldn't take
chances on the heroin being
flushed down the drain.
They shouted "Police" and
forced their way in. 1t looked
like game in the bedroom.
There was Clarabelle tossing a
bag to Ella, her roommate, and
Ella tossing it right back.
The bag dropped between them
and hundreds of capsules scat
tered over the floor. Clarabelle
hadn't been able to flush the
stuff down the drain. There was
a man in the bathroom and he
had locked the door,
Clarabelle Starts Talking
The detectives took Clarabelle |
into the kitchen and Gained her
down. Then she began talking |
She said she was getting her
heroin from. the limping man on
Missouri avenue In fact. she had
been there just that morning at
1890 am. He had given her the
bag of capsules now spread over
the bedroom floor. She was to
return 81 for each capsule. Some
she sold for $l.50, some for 81.
She knew how he operated.
The mans wife, jeanette, !
worked in the Navy annex, she
said. Each day. jeanette would
stop off some place on the way
home to pick up the days supply.
Whenever Clarabelle went to
Missouri avenue, she had to call
first. He would sometimes tell
her, II amt straight yet. but
come on up"
And when she got there, he
would be straight" have the
supply. Sometimes, she would
help "cap up" mix the heron
with milk sugar. fill the cap
sules and prepare the glasslne
bags for distribution.
Fires Shot at Clarabelle
If the nights supply wasn't
enough to meet the demand,
jeanette would go off for a half
to quarters of an hour.
Then she would return with more
stuff. If there was some left in
the morning. the limping man
made his wife take 1t with her
to work. He wanted to keep the
house clear.
But that mans crazy" Clara
belle told the detectives fearfully.
zone time about two weeks ago,
] made my turn in and l wa
short. He got out a gun and if
1t hadn't been for jeanette hol-
lering. would be dead now. Her
yelling threw off his aim and he
missed me. I stayed away from
him awhile but he called me a
week ago and l went back in
business"
Now, the question: Did they
have enough on the limping man
To get warrant? Assistant
United States Attorneys Harold
j Titus, IT,, and Thomas Flan-
merry said they did.
Clarabelle feared for her life
II her name appeared on the
affidavit on which a warrant
would be based, but she was
M.illinp 10 SUGAR uerhallv 10 tho