Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-04-14


of the house, taking his time about it.
He had first felt under the old mans
pillow after money, and then under Mrs.
Arnold's, daubing his fingers with blood,
and leaving his marks ON the pillows.
rested his left hand on the pillow while
searching with his right, and in every
case there were only four daubs or spots.
There should have been five. He would
not put down four fingers and hold up
his thumb. No; the thumb on the left
hand was missing-cut off at least at the
first joint
This was clue, and all my subsequent
Investigations proved that [ was correct
in believing so. There was another
thing. The man had torn up the carpet
of the t ed-room in several places; had got
out the Bible and looked between it's
covers; had taken down and searched the
clothing in the closet; and had been SO
cool and thorough in his search that I
knew he was no ordinary offender. A
common thief would have fled after COM
hitting murder, or at most stopped only
long enough to search the bureau. Who
ever the man was he had not secured a
dollar in money. Hehad, however, taken
away an old-fashioned gold watch be-
longing to Arnold, which was out of re-
pair, and chiefly preserved as an heir
loom. A dozen persons could identify
the watch, if found, and here was some
thing which might prove good clue.
[ did not expect to get much out of
the hoy, owing to his youth. Taking
him on my knee, I made his acquaint-
ance, gave him some pennies, and then
asked him what he saw.
"You see," began the child, very
gravely, 81 heard grandpa talking and
getting up, and then I saw big robber
Jump up and hit him with the axe. Then
grandpa fell down, and the big man went
over and struck grandma. Then he
looked in the bureau, on the bed, In
grandpa's box, in the closet, and then
went off, and then / went to Sleep"
/ dreaded to ask him how the man
looked, for much depended on his
answer. But he was ready with his re-
ply, and all my cross-questioning could
not alter his statement.
"Big manfred collar (necktie,) on
great big breast in-ike Mr. Johnson
there shining ring on his fnger-one
eye almost smut up.
I tried to make little Jack believe that
the murderer had black hair, and was
little man, but he stuck to his story.
Then one of the constables talked to him
about something else for ten minutes,
and then questioned him as to the ap-
pearance of the man; but the story was
the same as he told me at first. Several
of us wrote it down, and | charged the
child to remember it.
I was convinced that the murderer was
a stranger in that part of the country
No one had seen him come or go; no one
knew the horror of his arrival or depart
ure, and he had left no clue behind
nothing but my theory that the thumb
was missing from the left hand. [ rode
up to the toll-gates, but he had not been
seen to pass. [ questioned the stage
drivers, but they could give no satisfac-
ton. went the railroad station, but no
one could remember having remarked
the presence of stranger on that night
The murderer had arrived and departed
like bird.
was considerably discouraged in not
striking his trail, but / was determined
to pursue the case until / had found the
criminal. Visiting Pittsburg and Har-
risburg [ laid my plans to trap him if he
tried to dispose of the watch. I wrote
letters to various officials, and then [
could do no more. For six months had
the case uppermost in my mind, while
transacting other detective bushes, but
I had failed to find the least clue. Then
one day I got trace.
Twas riding on the cars of the Pennsyl-
vania Central railroad, when [ observed
an old lady shaking gold watch in her
hand, and then holding it to her ear to
see if it would run. Crossing over to
her asked to look at the watch and she
handed it out with the remark:
1t isn't much good, but don't know
as it ought to be. My husband only
paid $40 for it.
[ found out that her name was Allen;
that she lived within dozen miles of
where the Arnolds had been murdered;
that on the morning after the murder, as
near as she could remember, her husband
had purchased the watch of a traveller on
the highway, who was looking for work
and out of money. She remembered
that the man was large man, had red
hair and full beard of the same color,
but could not say that she had observed
anything suspicious in his actions.
I found by questioning that the stran-
ger had continued on the road to the
west, and that if he kept on he must
have struck the railroad after an hours
travelling. I am convinced that this was
the murderer, and that he had made
long journey on the highway in order to
battle pursuit and hide his trail
But it was little comfort to know it as
so many months had passed that the man
might now be in Europe or under ground
I took the lady's address, allowed her to
retain the watch knew had belonged to
the Arnolds, and again lostthe case for
several months. I wrote over fifty let
tiers, travelled three or four thousand
miles on the lookout for big man and
nothing came of it. But one day when
approaching the village of Dewfeld, N.
Y, by stage, two suspicious-looking
chaps got into the vehicle, and they were
my only company. [ knew them to be