The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1906-02-05
HoeO / Entered RE
FIELD
LfOriginaI1

| tOflSlnaLJ
The way I got into the detective busi-
ness was this: One morning 1 took up
q paper n rea that John Mulholland,
q farmer living on the Arlington road.
had been found dead with a bullet in
his heart. There vas no clew to the
murderer. I was out of a job at the
time and made up my mind that I
would test my natural bent for detec-
tive work by trying to unravel what
appeared to be al insoluble problem.
I vent to the house and found the doc
tors engaged in extracting the bullet
from the cad mans heart. 1 asked to
see it and was permitted to do so. My
reason for wishing to examine it was
that 1 had always heard that every
minutia In detective cases was impor-
tant- The truth is 1 was green and
didn't know how else to begin.
The bullet was of the usual conical
shape. I looked it an over and noticed
places where it had been rubbed or
scratched. There were three of these
marks, two neal together, a third on
the opposite side. 1t struck me that
there had been some projection in the
barrel of the pistol hat had caused
these scratches. If I could find the pis-
tol that would make similar scratches
on other bullets fired from it I could
identify it as the weapon with which
Mulholland had been killed. But no
weapon had been found near the body.
Stories about murderers leaving knives
sticking in their victims or dropping
pistols in their haste to get away are
inventions. Murderers do a lot of
things to incriminate themselves, but
they're not so stupid as hat.
/ secured an interview with the mur
dered mans wife and asked her to tell
me about every one hat had had any
connection with her husband during a
year or so past. He had had trouble
with the owner of an adjoining farm
about the boundary. A tramp had
been turned out of the barn a few days
before the murder and had zone off
muttering curses. a arm hand had
been discharged, but an interval of
three months had elapsed since the
discharge; besides, the man had made
no demonstration at the time.
OF the three my suspicious were for
the tramp. I hadn't the means of
securing the country for him, so /
went to the police and recommended
them to do so. The tramp was hunted
down and arrested. He had no pistol
on him. but he had a pawn ticket. The
pawnbroker where 1t was issued pro-
duced a silver watch that it stood for
Of little value. After the police had
dropped the scent I went to the pawn
broker, hoping to elicit some clew.
While we were chatting l stood lean
ing on a glass cas- containing pawned
articles. Among them | noticed a pis-
toll. 1t was a cheap, old fashioned arti-
Gle worth a few dollars. Something
moved me to ask the broker who had
pawned it. He said that the man was
a negro. I asked the broker to let me
ook at b weapon and he handed 1t
to me-. Taking it to a window where
the sun was shining in, / looked into
the barrel. Near the muzzle I noticed
some-spots of rust. There were two
near together and n opposite.
Noting b. caliber, l went out n
got some cartridges to fit the pistol
and, going into the back yard with it,
fired a bullet into a barrel Of water.
When l examined the lead 1 found
scratches on it exactly like those on
the bullet that killed Mulholland. 1
fired several more bullets, and every
one was marked exactly like the first.
Without saying a word to any one, I
went to Mrs. Mulholland and asked
her if her husband had ever had any
trouble with a negro. At first she an
swered NO" but presently remem-
bered that three years before a negro
had stolen some clothing and Mu1hol-
land had been instrumental in sending
him to b penitentiary. The negro was
an ugly fellow, with a bad record. I
hunted up his case and found that his
time had expired and he had been re-
leased a few days before the murder.
At this point l made a grave mis-
take. l was not willing to give the po-
lice the benefit of my discovery, SO /
traced the negro myself and found him
in a low negro dive. l swore out a
warrant, had him arrested and in his
pocket found a pawn ticket for the pis-
toll 1 ] had discovered.
1 then made put the papers accusing
the prisoner of the murder of John
MulhoIland. The police, who had in
the first place resented my interfer-
ence. treated me with whitening con-
tempt.
"Young feller,' said the chief, when
you've been mixed up with criminals
as long as I have you'll learn that it's
one thing to suspect a man or even to
know he's the one you want and an
other to prove it. It's just such men
as you that cost the state money spent
uselessly.'
1 made no reply, biding my time.
When the trial came off the %prosecut-
ing attorney was well posted by me on
the case and demonstrated before the
Jury what l had discovered in the
pawnbroker's back yard. He showed
them the bullet hat had killed Null
holland, then took a cartridge and fired
1t into a barrel of water. The bullet
coming out marked as the one he had