Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-07
XIV.
Trafford Goes Over the Case.

I II ueVinSn aWkWdru Was lHe hiid
comment Of Russell, the county attorney
on the arrest of Calden. Trafford. had
come direct to his Office from Grimble
shaw's rooms.
! "Fry is one Of the last men from whom
should have expected SO false a step.
Trafford admitted
| "Of course Beckwith's move will be q
writ Of habeas corpus" suggested Rus
sell.
| Possibly, but whatever he does we've
simply got to move now. Wed better
push the inquest quick. This thing has
oueered the waiting game
| 81 suppose you know what you car
proven" Russell asked. anxiously. Failure
| or success In the most sensational case
that had come his way since ne .oot
| Office showed large in the question OF his
future.
| "Oh, yes; and when it comes to thai
we aren't so badly off by long shot. In
fact, / may say we've got lot with
which to feed the public. What We
| haven't got is the first particle OF PROOF
as to who did the job"
| isn't that putting 1t a trifle strong?
asked the other. his anxiety approaching
gloom.
! ''Just let's go back to the situation as
we know it at o'clock. say. of the
| Wednesday OF the murder. Had the
/ writer of the note kept his appointment
the night before. or hadn't her
| II should say there were good many
more important questions than that"
Eyes? For instance"
| was the older Calden here and was
he at the, Altenburg house?''
"Oh. that isn't even a question. He
was"
"As a matter of proof?"
LET me go over the points and you
take notes. Wen see then where our
proof needs strengthening. I'll try moi
to rank as knowledge anything that J
can't fairly prove. or lay so substantial
a foundation for that skillful cross-eX-
animation which will be able to fill the
gaps. ..
Mrs. Calden, who'd taken up her resi-
dence near Hacklebury six months be-
fore, with the apparent purpose to make
| it permanent, quietly left. without at
tracing any considerable attention, and
came to Augusta, where she arrived Mon
day afternoon. I've got the train. mack,
boarding place. everything, pat. She en-
gagged Lawton Frazier as attorney and
| was with him most Of that evening. Now,
Of course, we're on ground where proof Is
out of the question. excepting with her
specific waiver of privilege. l suppose
"I'm not SO certain said Russell. LAS
long as we distinguish between provable
| fact and simple deduction think L m en-
titled to the benefit of the latter, at least
at the start
.Well. there are some facts mixed in
| here at any rate. Thus, Tuesday after
noon. Frazier wrote to the governor:
Ell beg to notify you that have been
should an attempt be made to secure his
extradition to New York under an indict-
ment for embezzlement found against him
some ten years ago and still pending. 1t
Is not our purpose to resist extradition,
but I shall insist that the papers be so
they will assure his trial under the indlct-
ment indicated above, and not be mere
cover for taking him to New York for
other purposes according to the method
VIGOROUSLY adopted In some other cases
through the present prosecuting author
tiles OF New York county
"As to this, Of course, privilege cannot
be claimed. and it seems to me that every
part of it. including the mere time OF
sending it, is important. Calden was
then already in the state. Frazier had
held back his notice until he knew that.
The note gave notice, accessible to those
who were looking for him, that he was
here, that he anticipated an attempt to
extradite him, that he would not resist it.
but that he would. SO far as he could.
aim to force the New York authorities
to try him on the embezZlement charge.
If he came here to commit murder, II
came here to escape trial. he was fool
to allow such letter to be sent, and his
counsel was fool to send 1t. I think.
therefore, that we are safe In assuming
that the letter represents exactly what
he had in mind In leaving the asylum and
coming here I'm certain that 1t repre-
sents what Frazier believed at the time of
writing 1t was Calden's purpose, and I've
been unable to find any reasonable ex-
PLANTATION based on any assumption other
than that it was"
Scarcely an appreciable time is now
held necessary to generalization" sug-
gested Russell.
I'm not discussing generalization as the
law regards it, said Trafford; I'm try
ing to form q picture of Calden's purpose
in coming here In an attempt to deter
mine what light, If any. it throws on what
he did after he got here. Leaving Hackle-
bury, he seems to have come directly to
Maine, and after crossing the state line
conceal his movements. At least, he did
not act like man who fears. or is seek
ing to avoid, arrest. His son Joined him
at Bangor. and they came by way Of
Brentwood, across country to Lance
boro."
Doesn't that look like trying to avoid
recognition at least?'' demanded Russell.
ooh, there's no doubt he didn't want
his arrival at Lanceboro to be known:
but who would have recognized him If 1t
that the village still supposed Mrs. Cal
den to be Mrs. Altenburg; it did not
know young Calden's actual name. and
as for the older man, John Altenburg
was the only person here who knew of
his existence even. He was just as likely
to be recognized at Bangor, or before he
got to Bangor, as he was at Lanceboro,
barring Altenburg. Yet he Travelled OPEN
ly to Bangor. and It was not until he ap-
preached Lancebor0 that he took any pre-
cautions. / can make out of this simply
an attempt to conceal himself from Al
tenburg.
He'd do just that IL he meant to sur
prise and murder him. said Russell.
Yes, and wouldn't he have done far
more in the way of covering his tracks?
Moreover. he seems clearly at that time
to have had no purpose to commit the
murder. On that we are agreed, as un-
derstand. On the other hand. If he then
purposed numbering Altenburg. his dan
ger was apprehension after the deed was
done, and he would do all in his power
to conceal the fact that he had been at
Lanceboro at all. So far as AltenburS
was concerned, the advantage of conceal
ment was surprise. To do this. however,
he needn't have left a wake as broad and
clean cut as the first swath through a
field of timothy. Yet that's just what he
did do. / sent one Of my most ordinary
men to trace him, and be can ac-
count for every minute of his time from
Braxton's Woods about dusk Tuesday
evening. From that on it took more skill
to follow the track and I've given that
personal attention.
Now let's take up young Calden. He
was at Mystic Lake Camp from the time
his mother left Altenburg's six months
ago. He opened his shack month and a
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