The Helena independent., 1894-11-21


searching the house of friends whom h,
had Visited when, as frequently hap
pencd, he strayed from home ON visit
All this was 60 no purpose"
The fact OF his wandering abroad
convinced me that his money was not
secretcd anywhere about the house, hui
that In some place about his person he
had hidden the property. and perhaps
hidden In hts clothing ] would find IT,
/ asked FOR his clothing and was IN
formed that it was OF the oldest pos
Islble kind, and his wife remarked that
she could not get him TO wear anything
new or decent, When ! asked to see
his old clothing the family told me that
they had been all through Il with knit
ting needles. torn out the Innings, and
finding nothing after what they oonsid-
cred thorough search, they had given
the rags away. But | had formed my
theory OF the case from two facts,
namely that OF his having been sailor
and able 10 use needle and thread. and
that he clung SO tenaciously To his old
clothing, not being a miser. | insisted
upon the clothes being brought back,
when ripped OF the wide bindings of
the coat and vest. | showed them the
wealth they had searched for In vain.
neatly folded ana securely hidden.
There were four $4,000 bonds tightly
creased and wrapped around with oiled
silk.
Il would give more for good guess
than for any systematic method or a
.cut-and-drled plan 20 work on, IL Is a
practice with criminals 10 hide their
money and valuables as far away from
their homes and persons as possible.
and IL often happens that young people
Al mi al
same-but when man arrives at the
sere and yellow OF age he always con-
ceals his valuables near his abiding
place / will tell you OF another in
stance In proof OF the latter assertion.
More than thirty years ago 1 was
called to house In orange county. n.
Y, at the request OF the heirs, To look
for the money OF deceased man.
could not find any distinguishing char
acteristics about the man and, after
trying several clews for a week and
failing all through, l grew tired of the
search and began to doubt his having
left after him any thing of value. We
/ had ripped open his saddle, split open
the soles and heels of his boots and
pulled all TO pieces his clothing and the
upholstery Of the furniture. We had
torn up the stones of the hearth and
ripped down the wainscoting and even
the backboards of all the picture frames
had been taken out by us. There was
not a tree on the place which had not
suffered from digging completely round
its roots. There was large reward
and Icould not afford TO lose it,although
was at my wits end.
I'm order to settle my mind at this
juncture I took horse and wagon and.
as | started upon a drive, the brother
a. s...I ant tn ma /
find the place we'll laid out, for his dead
brother had surveyed 1t. This remark
opened my eyes and led me TO believe
that. after all. the man had not secreted
his money in the house, nor In the barn,
to which he seldom had gone. | con-
cluded that he would not have used
roots Of trees or even stones Tor hiding
places II he knew how To survey. l de-
ferred my drive and went into the house
and asked where the deceased had been
In the habit of sitting. / learned that
like all old men. he had favorite chair.
learned also that this chair was always
placed by him at a certain window.
The brother remarked as | approached
the window, that they had pulled 1t all
10 pieces and found nothing there.
~ got the brother to sit down In the
chair and look ia the direction which
the deceased generally took, and found
| that he had constantly kept In sight an
| old, used-up pump. ! learned that
when he walked out he went straight
10 the pump and then made bee line
for the pond | had the pump taken
up and we dug down deep beside it. but
found nothing. | then returned to the
room and stood at the window. IL was
happy thought to search the window
sill carefully, for ! found there faint
n t-.. .lr 3 tsrau "a CIfFN
point. ! lined II UP to the pump and
meausued the exact center OF the line.
At a depth of four feet we found two
inch steam pipe. Both ends were
plugged, and concealed within was the
fortune of that man In bonds and Ger
tncates Of stocks and bills to a great
amount For my services in that case
carried away a $500 bill.
'"rhis case was soon followed by a
search for S32 600, which n paralytic
had in his hand a few moments before
his death, which had occurred like n
stroke OF lightning" continued the de-
tective. Before | was called In, the
family, as usual. had made thorough
and exhaustive search, as they sup
posed, and left me only the house
turned upside down and all traces de-
stroyed. In this dilemma / sought the
doctor, and told him Of my trouble. He
suggested an examination Of the body.
| did this and found "A mark on his hip
which had been made by the metal
edge Of some household utensil, an in
denton from the edge being plainly
marked, There was also "A bruise upon
his knee ] concluded that he had
fallen. Clutching the money, over some
metal vessel and expired, as he was
found dead upon the floor,
But there was no article fitting the
theory In the ROOM The people who
had preceded me In the search declared
that there was nothing of the kind I'm
the room at the time of death. still,
| felt that ! was on the right track,
aud after a look around the house |
found an old coal hod in the cellar.
and among the rubbish In 1t was the
prize / was in search OF. This simple
job netted me $4,000,
walter Besant the English novelist.
frequently says In his stories that IL
Is The unexpected that happens. and
this applies in detective work as well
as in the general matters OF life. We
| find clews In the most unexpected
| places, and oftcntimes results are
/ great surprises 10 us. | find that II is
/ the easiest thing In the world To be
mistaken and we are never certain of
anything until we have II actually in
/ hand"