The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1914-01-30
A Case Of
Blackmail
By VILLAIN CHANDLER

Tile hinge On that part of my desk
which when lowered formed the sur
face ON which to write being broken.
| put ON another. While ut work on
the job l accidentally struck the point
Of the screwdriver ~ II certain part OF
the desk which | had supposed was
solid. and out few a little drawer.
had owned that desk ten years or
more without being aware Of this Sc
cret drawer. Naturally | was aston
ished. There were several papers in
it which | removed and examined. ]
fancied that they all related to the
same subject. though this was guess
work. One was plain enough to be
understood by any one. 1t was a de-
mand for $4,000 or 1.-THE case goes be-
fore the district attorney" 1t was in
an envelope addressed to Samuel Z.
Henderson and was signed with the
initials u. NJ"
Through Il friend in the real estate
business ! learned the following facts:
The house ut which | had bought the
desk had belonged to Samuel T. Hen
dersun, to whom the note was ad-
dressed.
Henderson had died in a s%anitarium
shortly before the sale of the house,
and property amounting to several
hundred thousand dollars which be
was supposed to have possessed was
nowhere to he found. His house and
furniture were sold by his widow and
a daughter. their only child. The
mother was dead. but the daughter
was living on the meager income pro-
duced from the amount realized from
the sale.
One morning l called on Miss Hen
derson and asked her If she knew any
n who had had any dealings with
her father whose initials were ]. NJ.
She thought for some time. but could
recall no such person. l asked her II
she had any Of her fathers papers.
and she said she had a handful of
them that had been removed from his
desk before it was sold. l asked her
to examine them and let me know II
she found a name on any Of them that
would ft the initials. She looked cu-
rious. and ] told her that the matter
was one of business which she would
not understand.
One evening when l called she told
me that she had found an old check
book that had belonged to her father
and in it a large number Of stubs Of
checks paid to J. NJ. knew then that
could get what | wanted. for the
checks must have been written with
the full name. Miss Henderson gave
me the name Of the bank on which
they were drawn. and. though all the
checks had been returned to Mr.. Hen
derson. one Of the bookkeepers remem-
bered the name or these checks from
the fact that there was a dispute about
n of them that had nearly cost him
bis position. The person to whom
they were drawn was James Murphy.
began q still hunt for James MUIR
ply and. after wedding the persons
Of that name in the directory. threw
aside all but one James Murphy. whom
l investigated and found to be a man
lASIltSS III VASObGIL 6ky bCs ! WAOkS A4A4
u note stating that l had come into
possession Of a note Of his to the late
Samuel Henderson. IL he desired to
see me about 1t ! would be pleased to
call on him. received q reply stat
ing that he did not understand what
I meant, but he would be at home the
next day at a certain hour.
/ found Mr.. Murphy to be q coarse.
illiterate man with a very disagree
able expression on his face. He I'M
dertook to blur me by feigning sur.
prise ut my note and demanded gruffly
what I meant BY writing 1t. I repeat
ed to him the contents of the demand
had found. how I came by 1t. and
said:
"Mr. Murphy, it lie evident that you
were Ievying blackmail upon Mr.. Hen
derson. | have become interested in
the matter. Mr.. Henderson is dead.
and no secret you held over him can
lnjure him. 1t is quite likely that
your threats were the Of his
death. You have no right to the
amounts he pnid you. and the time has
COuJC 1V1 yVu W ESSOEu kuSAus SUCSA
book has been found bearing a stub for
every check paid you. Choose between
returning the money and being pros
ecuted for blackmail and at the same
time standing suit for the funds paid
you without q legal consideration"
Mr.. Murphy lost some Of the redness
Of his face and stared at me for awhile.
not knowing what reply to make. FL
nally he said:
II had a partner who was a great
rascal and is responsible for all this.
Give me a little time and l will try to
find a way out Of the matter.
told him that be might have till
noon the next day. but meanwhile he
would be shadowed by q detective to
see that be did not get away. l took
no stock In his partner story.
He eventually paid Miss Henderson
$4,000. which was all. so far as could
be proved. Of the amounts her father
had paid him. This was facilitated by
the fact that he had made a great deal
Of money out Of the funds while he
~ -. HaFtTE A ~ 80 Ef4E = ErHA ~ 40 49,