Spaceman suit¶
The spaceman suit is the homemade, Mercury-and-Apollo-style spacesuit worn in the Radford Radio Shack robbery and later seen on a figure running into the woods; the team found it discarded in the Whateley cellar.
| Type | Item (costume) |
| Aliases | Abe's spacesuit; Mercury replica; handmade Apollo 11 spacesuit; spaceman costume |
| Holder | Abelforth Whateley (maker and original wearer); later the police |
| First appearance | Radford Horror 02 |
Description¶
In Radford Horror 02, Irene Whateley and the sheriff describe Abe's homemade replica of a Mercury spacesuit, which he made for a school presentation (Radford Horror 02). In Radford Horror 06, the suit that the team sees is an Apollo 11 astronaut suit with an Apollo command cap (Radford Horror 06). Up close, it is handmade, hand-sewn with obvious love and care, with an American flag patch (Radford Horror 06). The differing descriptions of its style are never reconciled, and the players treat it as one suit.
Properties¶
The suit is bulky: during the robbery the wearer could not lift the heavier merchandise, which is how the fingerprints came to be on file (Radford Horror 02).
History¶
The Radio Shack robbery¶
At the sheriff's station, the Biz searched the records, helped by Huell, and rolled an 8 on Investigate a Mystery. The file showed that Abe had thrown a cinder block through the Radio Shack window and entered in a spaceman suit. He tried to steal heavier items but could not lift them, then left with lightweight modems, a cellular phone and other portable goods in a garbage bag, and bought a bus ticket to Richmond. The sheriff had not known about the suit, and said it "does give a different color to the conversation we had earlier" (Radford Horror 02). See Radio Shack spacesuit robbery. In Radford Horror 05, Deputy Molly Underhill reported that the fingerprints dusted on the roof of the first crime scene had been run and matched the robbery, the only other incident involving a spaceman. She concluded that Abelforth was probably back in town and put out an APB (Radford Horror 05).
The spaceman in the woods¶
In Radford Horror 06, the team saw an Apollo 11 astronaut jogging into the woods. When they caught him, the helmet came off to reveal a Whateley boy under an Apollo command cap. As something above grabbed him and lifted him away, he said "You don't have to fight this" and "It's okay. It's worth it" (Radford Horror 06). See The Spaceman.
The cellar¶
Later that night, the team entered the Whateley house and found discarded spacesuit pieces piled in an unfinished cellar, next to a pair of human feet. The suit was the only thing in the room that appeared recently disturbed. The Biz hid his bug behind the loose American flag patch of the suit, intending to learn if anyone came back for it (Radford Horror 06).
Police theory¶
In Radford Horror 08, the team was told the police theory: investigators had found a hidden basement holding a spaceman costume with a journal inside, and the cadaver of what was probably Abelforth. They believed Wilbur had come downstairs as his brother, pretended to leave, climbed back into his window, removed the costume and come down again as himself, so that both boys seemed to have left. The journal is described on the Wilbur's journal page (Radford Horror 08).
Disputed
The police theory pins the killings on Wilbur Whateley as a serial killer, which the team did not fully accept. The episodes do not settle who wore the suit on each occasion.