Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-12-07
An Old Murder Recalled.

eff there were q few Brooklyn detec-
! ives who had the insightinto character.
he keen intuition that the chief pos
yesses, there would be som work done
| hat would astonish folks"
This remark was made by a pron1i-
1ent Brooklyn official. who was not
If the World.
detective work in Brooklyn is be-
.ow that of other cities, is it not?" the
reporter asked.
"Well detectives are born and can
aot be recruited from rough police
:anks,' was the answer. policemen
Us a rule are not logical. They have
little intellectual directness, except per-
maps in the use of the club. A detective
must not only be able to see q point,
out to hold on to it through all manner
Of complications and the inevitable side
issues which are so fatal to detective
work. Policemen as a rule are as gar
rulous as old women over their tea.
There are notable exceptions, OF course,
but it is lamentably true that these ex-
ceptions art rarely promoted. But to
return to the chief: l shall never forget
how he got at the facts of the Goodrich
murder. In all his intercourse with the
scum and settings of society he had
never yet met a man or woman who
had not some redeeming quality.
cit seemed next to impossible to OBJ
tain the proofs Of her guilt. and the
chief was at his wits end. To compli-
cate or rather to aggravate the case still
more, the woman confessed to him in
confidence that she committed the MUIR
der. She said:
"'I did it chief, and I know you will
not give me away, but if you should
think proper to do so, my oath will be
worth as much as yours. You will
swear l told you, and l will swear l
didn't.
"Every endeavor to discover Hates
local habitation failed. 1t seemed an
excellent joke to this strange woman
that she could tell the story other crime
to the superintendent of police and not
have it of any value to him as evidence.
".lf l send for you,' she said, her ex-
pressive eyes dancing with fun, it will
not be necessary to communicate my
address, for you will not know where
to find me-
The chief had her in the station-house
at this time.
"'Yes. Kate he said kindly, I shall
know where to find you, and 1 promise
to conn as soon as you send.'
Then calling him back. she said: II
have told you the truth. killed Charlie
Goodrich, and when you find where |
live you will find a trunk in nv room
and in that trunk is the pistol that l
killed him with, a watch, and a ring be-
longing to Charlie Goodrich. Besides
these there is at least a pailful of dirt in
the trunk"
"Dirt," said the chief. .sWhy. Kate,
what in the world did you put dirt in
your trunk for?"
Because I loved the very ground
that Charlie Goodrich walked on was
the very singular response.
"After l had killed him. chief" and
most all the defiance and fun faded
from the woman's face, II went out
where l had seen him walk hundreds of
times and shoveled up the dirt and put
it in my trunk"
1.-The chief, who felt himself response
BILE for the apprehension of the muir
derer, was still off the track At last q
bold thought struck him. The exhaust
i've and ~cxhausting talks he had with
Kate demonstrated that Kate had a
room, and that the room was in Brook
l,yn. So he issued an order that inquiry
should be made at every house in the
city to discover if any woman had been
absent from her home for the length of
time that Kate had been a prisoner.
Three hundred women, including SER
vant-girls who had left their places. had
been absent for the time stated. Then
the three hundred We're sifted until it
wa found that only four had been mys-
terlously absent during this period.
Kate was one Of the four, and in this
way was hunted down In her room
was found the trunk. and in the trunk
the articles she had mentioned. dirt and
all.
From first to last Kate Stoddard had
never told the chief a lie."-M Y.
Hron7I