— A Southwick Time Machine Original | Biographical Reconstruction In the 1940s, a mystery writer lived in a historic farmhouse in Southwick, Massachusetts. She surrounded the centuries-old home with beautiful flowers and furnished it with antiques and period pieces, skillfully returning it to its golden days. Inside, it had five working fireplaces, a large blue braided rug she made herself, and a special cabinet in the front hall that prominently displayed a remarkable set of carved ivory chessmen. The chess pieces were unlike the ordinary chessmen found on a game board, as she described them in her fifth novel, Murder Is Contagious :   “The pawns were little men on pedestals, holding daggers in their hands: the kings rode proudly on elephants; and the queens, with their ladies-in-waiting, sat erect on slightly smaller elephants protected by howdah.”   Many who visited her home said they had never seen such a set in a home, antique shop, or even a  museum. Visitors...

  — A Southwick Time Machine Original | Scandal Charles C. Machette lived in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he worked as a saddle and harness maker in the saddlery of Daniel Kingsbury. He was said to be handsome, charming, and persuasive. He stood about five feet tall and had eyes as black as his hair. He had large whiskers, a dark complexion, and was probably of French descent. His wife, Mary B. Machette, was the daughter of Daniel Bontecou, a highly respected and very successful Springfield merchant. He, along with four other wealthy citizens, established Court Square.  Mary Bontecou’s first husband was James Worthington of Springfield. They married on February 25, 1828. In May 1835, Mr. Worthington became owner of the well-known Hampden Coffee House, which accommodated travelers at the general stagecoach office. Some time after Mr. Worthington’s death on December 15, 1838, Mary married Charles Machette. ("Coffee" was eventually dropped from the name.)   "Court Squa...

 — A Southwick Time Machine Original | Mystery On the morning of May 22, 1957, Dominick Loupinski of Loomis Street in Southwick, Massachusetts, was hunting crows when, at about 9:30, he came across a 1950 DeSoto with a white top and green body, parked on a little-used wood road off Honey Pot Road near the Westfield-Southwick town line. Mr. Loupinski said he noticed a small red sticker on the car and immediately went to contact the police. In actuality, he contacted James L. Lyons, a retired Massachusetts State Police corporal who managed Southwick’s popular Point Grove Club with his wife, Elenora (Battistoni) Lyons. Mr. Lyons then notified police. It remains unclear what the sticker represented or why Mr. Loupinski contacted Mr. Lyons rather than the police. When officers arrived to investigate, they noted the lifeless body of a man in the backseat.   1950 DeSoto Advertisement   A Search Begins Mario Risciotti disappeared on March 10, 1957. When last seen, he was wearing...