Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1912-10-25

MY first business was to take q
look at the dead crook. l knew many
of them, but / had never seen him
before. He was sturdf1y built fellow
above the average height, wore good
clothes, and had a black mustacle and
dark, curly hair. Rochot claimed the
credit Of killing him, and said he was
the man who carried the candle.
looked instinctively at the fellows
clothing, to see where he had been hit
| could not find any blood marks on
his head or shirt near any vital part
l did not think this was strange at the
time, and / went upstairs to look
through the house for clues.
"a rope ladder had been left hang.
ing from the roof Of the back stoop.
some scratches on the paint showed
that the thieves had forced the bath
room window after reaching the roof.
This was only the sort of work that
tip-top crooks deal In. The method Of
bursting the safe also indicated that
there were some genuine bank opera
tors in the gang. The drag, which 10
the most powerful tool used by bur-
glars, had forced the back out Of the
safe as If It had been made by paper.
The crooks were rewarded by getting
5000 in money, securities and jewel.
ry. They had left nothing but the
dead crook as clue to their identity.
His body was taken to the Morgue.
Every detective In the city took
peep at him, but no one remembered
having seen him before. This was ex-
planned later by the fact that he had
just finished serving twenty years
sentence. which meant, with good
time" twelve years and six months
in Connecticut prison. The usual
form Of inquest was held upon the
body.
Then came a startling piece Of in
formation. Deputy Coroner Boldte,
Who made the examination Of the body
was unable to certify the cause of
death. The police had reported that
the thief had been shot, but there was
no sign Of bullet or any other wound
in any part Of his body.
NO autopsy had been held, and one
was Immediately ordered. The organs
were found to be in perfectly healthy
state. The only abnormal condition
was a small clot Of blood near the
heart. The surgeons, after a long
hunt to find where this came from,
found puncture in the heart so min
ute, that it could hardly be detected
by the naked eye. Corresponding to
this was an opening through the chest
over the heart, so small that not
drop of blood had escaped from It.
The hole that closed when the instru-
ment which made it was withdrawn,
and all the external evidence was 9
little red spot not much bigger than
a pin point
'Dr. Boldte's opinion was that the
wound had been made by what IL
known as the needle stiletto, a weap-
on much used by the Cammora Of ST.
cicily. He had never seen one OF
heard of one being used In this coun.
try.
who killed the thief?
"The mystery aroused public inter
est. A large crowd attended the. In
quest. Among the spectators was a
woman. She sat In a secluded place
and paid deep attention to the testi-
mony. No one had claimed the dead
mans body. studied all the facess
carefully. l saw this woman wipe a
tear from her cheek when the Jury
brought in verdict that the thief had
been killed by an unknown person.
followed her from the coroner's Of
fee, and spoke to her when we got out
OF the crowd.
Il asked her what interest she had
in the dead man. She parted my
questions for a while and went.
worked upon her sympathies so well
that she finally admitted that the man
was Billy Reilly. her husband.
THE Ice was. broken. She said that
when Reilly was in Jail she had tax.
en- up with Bill Hendricks, an English
crook. When Reilly's term was ended
she deserted Hendricks and returned
to her husband. This made Hendricks
insanely jealous.
"She attended the inquest to find out
how her husband was killed. II he had
not been shot. She knew immediate
ly that Hendricks had put Reilly out
of the way. because he had a needle
stiletto.
''She told me where Hendricks was,
and gave me the names of the crooks
who robbed Rochot. Hendricks, learn
ed, had skipped, after following Mrs.
Reilly to the coroner's Office, but
caught Pendergast. Mccormick. Mack
and Moses. and recovered large por.
ton of the stolen goods. Old Rochot
buried Reilly and gave his wife a re-
ward"