"You seem to be thirsty after your hard work this morning," said the detective, in a laughing tone.
"It was pretty hot work, and no mistake," replied Nelson; "and we were mighty lucky in saving the adjoining houses. I was afraid once they would certainly go."
"Fill up your gla.s.s again," said Everman; and Nelson graciously acquiesced. "Yes," continued the operative, "you boys did excellent work, and you deserve great credit for it. I suppose your fire department here is composed entirely of volunteers?"
"Yes, sir," answered Nelson, quite pleased with the encomiums which his pet hobby received; "and a better organized fire department is not to be found anywhere."
"Well," said the detective, as he raised his gla.s.s, "here"s to the health of your fire laddies; may you never miss a run, and always have as good luck as you did to-day."
"Good," said the delighted fireman; "I don"t know your name, but you"re a good fellow, and I am glad to hear you speak so favorably of us."
"My name is Everman," answered the detective frankly. "I only arrived in Woodford yesterday, and expected to meet a friend whose family resides here; but I regret to say I have been disappointed."
"May I ask who you were waiting to meet?"
This was the very question the detective most desired to be asked, and he answered at once.
"Yes. I expected to meet Newton Edwards here, and I have some letters for him from his employer, which he ought to receive."
At the mention of the name, Nelson started in astonishment, and then gave vent to a long, low whistle.
"I am afraid you won"t find him here," he said at last.
"Afraid, Mr. Nelson! Why, what"s the matter?" quickly inquired the detective.
"Well, sir, I am afraid your friend has turned rascal, and has run away."
"What do you mean?" sharply asked Everman. "Surely, you have no reference to my friend, Newton Edwards?"
"Yes, I mean him exactly. He is a d.a.m.ned thief, that"s what he is; and he has broken his wife"s heart!"
This was enough for Everman; and in a short time he had learned all that the honest carpenter could tell him. On the evening before, it appeared, Mrs. Edwards had received a letter from her husband, the contents of which had made her frantic with grief, and to-day she was unable to leave her bed. In this letter he had informed her that he had been connected with the robbery of the bank at Geneva, and that he had succeeded in eluding all pursuit, and was now hiding in some obscure place in the state of New York.
"This is all I know about it," added Nelson, "and I suppose I ought not to tell this; but when a man turns out a d.a.m.ned rogue like that, honest people cannot afford to shield or uphold him in his rascality."
"That"s my opinion, exactly," rejoined the detective, "and I am sorry, indeed, for Edwards" wife, although I am free to confess that I have no further sympathy for him."
"I ought not to have told you this," said Nelson, with some compunctions of conscience at his garrulity. "And if my wife was to hear that I had done so, she would take my head off."
"Well, she won"t hear of it from me, I can a.s.sure you, and I am too much disappointed in my friend to speak of it unnecessarily to any one."
Their conversation was continued a few minutes longer, and then Nelson, promising to see my operative again, took his leave.
Here was a revelation, which amounted to a direct confirmation of our suspicion regarding Edwards, and was convincing testimony of the fact that he was hiding from the officers of the law. The information about his location, while indefinite, was a surety of the fact that he had not gone west, according to his previous arrangement, and that he must be looked for in the state of New York.
One thing, however, was necessary to be done at once, and that was to keep a sharp lookout for any letter which might be mailed by Mrs.
Edwards or any member of her family. There was no doubt that this lady would sooner or later attempt to write to her husband, and that too within a few days. It was therefore of the utmost importance that a close watch should be kept upon all the movements of the members of Mr.
Black"s household, and then to endeavor to get at the address of any letters which they might attempt to mail.
Everman immediately sent his report of what he had learned to me, and then sought the chief of police in order to enlist his further aid in such efforts as were now necessary to be taken.
When the chief had listened somewhat incredulously to what Everman had been enabled to learn in the few minutes" conversation which he enjoyed with Tom Nelson, he was overwhelmed with surprise at the rapid success he had met with, and he readily proffered all the a.s.sistance in his power.
Everman resolved to see Nelson again, and endeavor to induce him to ascertain the exact locality in which Edwards was hiding. The carpenter could not recollect it at the first interview, and was not sure that he had heard it, but Everman concluded to try to jog his memory upon that point still further. He did not have to seek an opportunity for meeting his man, for that evening he received another call from Nelson, who had evidently taken a great fancy to my affable operative. During the conversation that followed, Everman was informed by his new-found friend, that as well as he could recollect the name of the place from which Edwards" letter was posted began with a "_Mac_," and that was all that could be elicited from him.
Everman gave as his reasons for desiring to learn this fact, that he wanted to write to him himself, and convey the letters which had been intrusted to him.
After spending some time in the vain endeavor to refresh the carpenter"s memory, they at length parted for the night.
"Remember, Mr. Everman," said Nelson, as he left the hotel, "if I can find out for you what you want, I will surely do so; but for heaven"s sake don"t let my wife know it, or I will be scalped alive."
The detective laughingly promised to beware of the sanguinary Mrs.
Nelson, and the carpenter went his way.
CHAPTER VIII.
A Plan to Intercept Correspondence--Edwards Fully Identified--A pretty Servant Girl and a Visit to Church.
While these events were transpiring at Woodford, William had not been idle in the city. A constant watch had been maintained upon the several premises occupied by the relatives of Newton Edwards, in the hope of detecting some attempt upon their part to communicate with the suspected thief. This at all times is rather a difficult object to achieve, but we have frequently been obliged to resort to this mode of acquiring information from lack of definite knowledge on which to base intelligent action. In order that one of the many of these expedients may be fully understood, a few words in detail may not be out of place. As is well known, the mail of an individual is so sacredly guarded by the laws of the country which govern the postal service, that an attempt to interfere with the letters of another is regarded as a felony and punished with severity. Of course, therefore, no efforts of ours would be directed to the obtaining or opening of any letters which might be mailed to the suspected individual. Our object was simply to obtain the addresses upon the envelopes, if possible, and then to search out the parties to whom they had been consigned. In this instance our manner of proceeding was quite simple, but it required that it should be managed with great care and without exciting the suspicion of any one. For this purpose each of the operatives, detailed for this duty, was provided with a number of envelopes of a peculiar size and color, and all addressed to fict.i.tious persons. Our plan was, that if any one of Edward"s relatives deposited a letter in any of the street boxes, the operative should be on hand and be prepared to drop his letter into the box immediately on the top of it. Another operative was then to await the visit of the postman on his round for collection, when he would step up to him and making a pretense of a mistake in the address of a letter which he had mailed, would from its position be enabled to obtain a glimpse of the suspected letters below, and their addresses.
This watch was maintained unceasingly for several days without result, and it appeared either that the family were unaware of Edwards"
hiding-place, or else that they were fearful of being watched, and avoided communicating with him on that account.
In the meantime, William received another visit from Mr. Silby, the president of the despoiled bank, who stated very reluctantly, that he and Mr. Welton, the cashier, during the absence of Eugene Pearson from the bank, had attempted the feat of loosening the screws upon the lock of the vault, and had been unable to do so. They had exerted their strength to the utmost, and the screws had st.u.r.dily resisted their efforts. He was therefore compelled to admit that thus far the suspicions against young Pearson appeared to be well founded, and that the screws had evidently been loosened before the prisoners were confined in the vault, in order to allow them to escape, should the atmosphere prove too oppressive for their safety. Mr. Silby also stated, that he had obtained an interview with a Mr. Crampton, the president of the bank at Independence, where it was learned that the parents of Newton Edwards resided, and that without divulging any of our plans regarding that young man, he had acquired considerable information concerning him. It was learned that Edwards had for some time been regarded as a very fast young man, and several episodes were related of him, in which he had figured in no very enviable light.
His parents were elderly people of eminent respectability, and were much distressed at the actions of their son, from whom they had expected so much. He had begun life with bright prospects, had entered into business with his own capital, but had failed after a short career, owing to his extravagant habits and his inattention to business. After this he had traveled for several firms, and while it was believed he received a large salary, there were many who shook their heads at the stories of his dissipation which reached their ears from time to time.
This was information which was of some value, and opened up the way to accomplish an object which William had long desired. He therefore requested Mr. Silby to introduce John Manning to Mr. Crampton, and directed Manning to accompany that gentleman to Independence, and by their joint efforts endeavor to obtain a photograph of Edwards. This was attended to at once, and in a few days, through the a.s.sistance of the sheriff at Independence, we were enabled to secure an admirable likeness of the absconding burglar, although the same had been taken nearly two years prior to this. A number of copies of this photograph were at once printed, and they were furnished to the various operatives who were at work upon the case. Hitherto we had been compelled to rely upon the rather unsatisfactory method of identifying him by description only, and in many cases, except where persons are trained to the work of accurately describing individuals whom they meet, there is danger of not being able to identify any one who has no very prominent distinguishing marks about him.
The first use to which this photograph was put was to exhibit it to Miss Patton, the young lady who had been a.s.saulted in the bank, and she instantly recognized it as the picture of one of the men who had committed the robbery, and the one who had attacked Eugene Pearson, while the other intruder was engaged in the attempt to gag and bind her.
This was very important, and no further efforts were now needed to establish the ident.i.ty of Newton Edwards, or to connect him with the robbery as an active partic.i.p.ant.
After several days of unproductive watchfulness at the city residences of Edwards" relatives, it became apparent that something more decisive would have to be attempted. From the reports of the operatives who had been detailed upon this part of the investigation, it seemed evident that the inmates had become suspicious of the fact that their movements were being made the subject of espionage, and it was resolved to adapt another system of operation, and endeavor to have one of my men enter the family, and by some means establish a friendly footing with its members. By this means he would be enabled, while unsuspected, to learn of the movements of the people whom he was watching.
I did not have far to seek for a man who would fully answer the purpose I had in view, and one who would succeed if success were possible. I had tried him in several operations where this kind of work was necessary, and he had invariably accomplished what had been delegated to him to perform. I therefore called Harry Vinton into my office, and stated to him the nature of the mission upon which he was to be sent. He was a handsome, jolly, quick-witted and intelligent young fellow, who had been with me for a long time. Entering my employment as an office boy, and evincing a decided task and talent for the profession of a detective, he had continued in my service, until at this time he was quite an adept in his particular line, and many a successful operation had been largely due to his intelligent efforts, while far removed from the directing eye of myself or my superintending a.s.sistants. His manners were frank and easy, and among the ladies he was a general favorite, therefore, I concluded to intrust him with the task of obtaining admission into the residence of the sister of Edwards, on Logan Place.
Our operatives had reported that at this house there was employed, in the capacity of domestic, a young and handsome girl, whose conduct as far as could be judged was exemplary in the highest degree, and informing Vinton of this fact, William inquired if he thought he could manage it successfully.
A merry twinkle shone in Vinton"s eyes for a moment and then he answered:
"I think I can, sir; and I am willing to make the attempt."
"Very well," replied William, laughing. "Only look out for yourself. I hear she is a very charming young girl, and you may find yourself in earnest before you are aware of it."