The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-09-19

here.
Have these negroes confessed?"
asked.
mo. but they will after few days
of what we're giving en-" laughed
the sheriff. "Oh. we'll get EN- all
right"
He readily agreed TO ! US talk
with the prisoners. To Us they told
the same story they had told at the
time OF their arrest: at the time the
murder must have been committed
they were busily engaged In shoot
Ing craps in a colored poolroom In
the poorer part OF the town.
Where did you get the money to
shoot WITH" asked Cluffer. suddenly.
Wed been wuhkin' for Mr. Brooks
who runs the brickyard, wheelin'
bricks all day" was the instant an
swer. "He done paid us OF and we
goes over to dis place and shoots
little craps all evenin'. We got folks
can swear to dat"
Where were you between the time
you quit work and the time you were
arrested" I shot at them.
I'VE went straight to dis poolroom."
they answered. We wuz dere all deb
time"
Next morning we investigated their
story quietly. We found Brooks al
his brickyard. and he substantiated
the negroes story about being paid
Off They had left the brickyard at
five minutes after five, and at the
poolroom it was said they had ar
rived at 6:15, and had remained until
late at night when they. were ar
rested.
Gross off the coons," said Clutter
"They never hau a finger in this pie.
l knew it the minute l saw 'em; coons
always try to look foxy when they're
lying. Those coons were just plain
scared. Let's go look at the situa-
ton"
The Bauder home we found to be
exceptionally striking even in that
town Of prosperous homes. Bauder
was a florist who had become a mil
nonaire by investments in oil, but he
still conducted, in the fields, imme-
diately back of his house, the florist
establishment that had given him his
start In front of the house was the
great, we'll kept lawn upon which the
IL year old son had been foully done
to death.
"Mr Bauder," I said. did your lit
tie boy have any possessions on his
person or elsewhere that might tempt
a robber?"
Him? That little fellow" burst
out the old man. mo, he didn't have
q thing-not a thing. o, hold on"
He stopped as If something had come
forcibly to his mind We'll, now"
he said, Il never thought of that. He
had a savings bank with $50 in It,
and I haven't seen 1t since he-since
we found him on the lawn"
A hurried and thorough search OF
the house was made for the bank II
could not be found. It was not in its
accustomed place in the child's room
or elsewhere. 1t could not be found
There" said Clutter as we left the
place, els your motive. Let's get
away and smoke and think 1t over .
We went back to the hotel, and pro
ceeded to lay out our theory Hav
ing established the fact that the
child's bank with $50 In it had dis
appeared on the same night as his
murder 1t was apparent that the two
were connected: the boy had beer
killed for the bank, slain by some mis-
creant who valued that paltry sum
beyond a child's life. But how was
this connection to be established In
a way to further our work? The boy
had been put to death out on the
lawn. The bank usually was In his
room. There had been no burglary
/ Of the house. No one had entered Il
to take the bank. How could the per
. son or persons, who killed the boy
: get the bank? Did they get it before
they committed their savage crime, OF
! afterwards? Was the murder the
main crime, or merely an incident Il
robbery? Or was the robbery Z
mere incident to the murder?
The chief had said that we prob
ably would find robbery to be the mo
tive. II this was so, then the person
or persons who killed the boy did 81
because he stood between them an,
the bank. They had to get him GU
Of the way to get that fifty dollars
They wouldn't have killed him other
wise. But the bank was-or usual.
was-up In the boys room In tn
house, where no intruder had entered
Why should they kill the boy out Of
the lawn to get fifty dollars in on
Of the upper rooms Of the house?
Either" said !, the boy ha
caught them taking the bank-or b
had the bank with him"
Clutter sat up rigidly.
} Wow!" he said. That's som
/ bunch. Either someone had take
} the bank, and he knew who it wa
} and was going to tell on them. an
} they killed him to keep him quiet
| or he had 1t with him. I believe W
are beginning to see toward the light
Being In charge of the case I said
| sSCIuffcr cr00ocf %hof vn,, uo