The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1914-02-19
A Case Of
Blackmail
By WILLIAM CHANDLER

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
II 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. Ii was de-
mand for $4,000 or the case goes be- |
fore the district attorney" Ii was in |
an envelope addressed to Samuel L. |
Henderson and was signed with the |
initials y. NJ"
Through a friend in the real estate |
business learned the following facts: |
The house at which ! had bought the |
desk had belonged TO Samuel L. Hen
derson, TO whom the note was ad-
dressed
Henderson had died in a sanitarium
shortly before the sale Of the house,
and property amounting to several
| hundred thousand dollars which he
was supposed to have possessed was
! nowhere to be 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 called on Miss Hen
| derson and asked her il she knew any
one who had bad any dealings with
her father whose initials were j. NJ.
| She thought for some time, but could
recall no such person. ! 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 1t was sold. ! asked her
to examine them and let me know il
she found a name on any OF them that
would ft the initials She looked Gu
rious, and | told her that the matter
was one Of business which she would
not understand.
One evening when | called she told
me that she had found an old check
book that had belonged to her father
and In it q large number Of stubs OF
checks paid to ]. 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-
faraI fhn fhaSn PhnpES frDm
the fact that there was a dispute about
one of them that had nearly cost him
his position. The person to whom
they were drawn was James Murphy.
began a 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
investigated and found to be a man
living in excellent style. | wrote him
a note stating that had come into
possession of a note OF his to the late
, Samuel Henderson. II he desired to
see me about it would be pleased to
= call on him. | received a reply stat
! ing that be did not understand what
r I meant. but he would be at home the
next Jay Ut u
| l found Mr.. Murphy to be a coarse,
! illiterate man with a very disagree
able expression on his face. He IN
dertook to blutf me by feigning sur
prise ct my note and demanded gruf1y
what I meant by writing it. | repeat
ed to him the contents of the demand
had found. how | came by 1t. and
said:
Mr. Murphy, it is evident that you
we're levying blackmail upon Mr.. Hen
derson. have become interested in
the matter Mr. Henderson is dead,
n and no secret you held over him can
injure him. 1t is quite likely that
r your threats were the cause Of his
n death. You have no right to the
n amounts be paid you. and the time has
a come for you to return them A check
p book has been found bearing stub for
D 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 a 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
e rascal and is responsible for all this.
d Give me little time and l will try to
:. find way out Of the matter.
$ told him that he might have till
I noon the next day, but meanwhile be
It would be Swallowed by a detective to
e see that he did not get away. l took
r no stock In mis- partner story.
He eventually paid Miss Henderson
n $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 be had made a great deal
:, Of money out Of the funds while be
: held them. he refused to tell me the
secret he held over Mr.. Henderson
but admitted that there was nothing In
1t that would have served with a man
Of different temperament
; When told Miss Henderson that
had fortune for her she received the
news with great surprise. She could
e not understand how any man could
: have possessed a secret discriminating
,, | her father whom she believed to hayt