The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1883-11-08

An Old Murder Recalled.

IF there were a few Brooklyn detect
ives who had the insight into character,
the keen intuition that the chief pos
sesses, there would be some work done
that would astonish folks"
This remark was made by promin-
ent Brooklyn official who was not aware
he was addressing reporter of The
World
Detective work in Brooklyn is below
that of other cities, is it not?" the re-
porter asked.
well, detectives are born and can
not be recruited from police ranks,
was the answer. Policemen as r.lle
are not logical. They have little ingel-
lectual directness, except perhaps in the
use of the club. A detective must not
only be able to see point, but to hold
on to it through all manner of compli-
cations and the inevitable side issues
which are so fatal to detective work.
Policeman as rule are as garrulous as
old women over their tea. There are
notable exceptions, of course but it is
lamentably true that these exceptions
are rarely promoted. But to return to
the chief; shall never forget how he
got at the facts of the Goodrich murder.
''lt seemed next to impossible to OBJ
tain the proofs of her guilt, and the
chief was at his wits ends. To COM
plicate or rather aggravate the case still
more, the woman confessed TO him in
confidence that she committed the mur-
der She said:
:" Il did it chief, and | 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 | told you, and l will swear
did MT
Every endeavor to discover Kate's
local habitation failed. 1t seemed an
excellent joke to this strange wo-
man that she could tell the story of her
crime to the superintendent of police
and not have it of any value to him as
evidence.
eff | 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 | promise
10 cOI1e dS soon as you Se0U.
Then calling him back, she said: II
have told you the truth. | killed Char
lie Goodrich, and when you find where
| live you will find a trunk in my room
and in that trunk is the pistol that |
killed him with, watch, and ring be-
longing to Charlie Goodrich Besides
these there is at least pailful of dirt
III the trunk"
Dirt, said the chief. ''Why, what
III the world did you put dirt in your
trunk for?''
Because | loved the very ground
that Charlie Goodrich walked on" was
The very singular response.
''After had killed him, chief" and
most all the defiance and fun faded
from the woman's face, II went out
where | had seen him walk hundreds of
rfnnes and shovelled mp the dirt and put
it in my trunk.
The chief, who felt himself respon-
sible for the apprehension of the muir
derer, was still off the track. At last q
bold thought struck him. The exhaust
i've and exhausting talks he had with
Kate demonstrated that Kate had a
room, and that the room was in Brook
y L. W h0 iSoo0u du oIueE tldl 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 pris-
oner
Three hundred women, including SER.
want girls who had left their places, had
been absent for the time stated. Then
the three hundred were sifted until it
was found that only four had been mys-
teriously 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 this trunk
the articles she had mentioned, dirt and
all.
From first to last Kate Stooddard had
never told the chief lie-NeU York
World.