Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1916-09-29


| prowess OF the federal agents. renre.
sented by William H. Gard. one of its
best f1e', was also ineffective in trac-
ing the fugitive further than to a
railway station where he took a west.
bound train.
IL was more than a year after this
| and George d. Caviness was SERVING
time in the federal penitentiarv ~ Az.
lanta. Billy Gard had been working
hard on many other cases that had in
tervened and the tracing of Homer
kester had been allowed to rest. It.
is the motto Of the federal detectives.
however, that a case is never aban-
doned, and now Gard was back upon
the old task Of catching the fugitive
cashier. His decks were otherwise
clear and hi instructions were to get
his man.
Gard locked himself up with the
Kester case for three days. He read
the records of it, reviewed his person
al knowledge, got together every scrap
of information that had any bearing
upon the character of the fugitive. He
wanted to know exactly what sort of
youngster Kester was, he wanted to
place himself in that youngsters place
and attempt to determine what he
would have done under the circum-
stances. 1t is a method that has been
used by a few detectives with very
great success. But it is only the oc-
casional man who is so human that he
may discard his own personality and
appreciate the course that would be
taken by another who may thus get
results.
In Kester he had youth of twenty
four who had been born and reared
in Royerton, had rarely been away
from that town, had no interests out
OF it. He was a young man of good
character, had demonstrated certain
strokes Of holiness and action. He
had mother and father and two sis
tiers living in Royerton.
1t appeared that Hester had fed and
that he had cut all ties behind him
that he had left town and had never
communicated with his relatives or
friends. While Gard had been of the
case vigilant watch had none-the-less
been kept upon all letters arriving in
Royerton that might possibly be from
the fugitive. No letters had come.
'Now Card" said the detective to
himself, were you youngster of this
training, living thus in Royerton, sur
rounded by a family to which you
were devoted, with no interests in the
world outside, with certain element
of boldness in your nature; If under
these circumstances you got into trou-
BILE, would you run clear away and
never communicate with them?"
NO." answered Gard, transported
back the few years that separated him
| from the inexperience Of twenty-four
Il could not break so easily from my
dependence upon my family and the
only world I had ever Known"
"And if you were thus thrown upon
your own resources in the big outside
world and had no money, and if you
had the additional handicap of having
to keep in hiding-would you be able
to face proposition like this and still
not call fOT help from your people?"
NO." again answered the imaginary
youngster. 81 would hide and find a
way to get money and news from
home"
So the detective reached the conclu-
SIGN that Hester was, in all probable
ity. communicating with his relatives.
1t was evident that he was not writing
home. Too close watch could be kept
on letters coming to small town for
any Of his people or their confidential
| friends for them to be received with
| cut the knowledge of the special
agents who, through the postmaster
and letter carriers, had been steadily
watching this means Of communica-
| ton.
So the conclusion was reached that
Kester was getting messages to his
people through some other means
than the mails, In all probability
through confidential messenger. To
do this he must be near by. He could
hide to best advantage in a city. Phila-
delphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore were in
convenient radius. The detective
drew the conclusion that, were he in
the boots of the fugitive, he would
have taken refuge in one of these
cities; that, had he not been willing to
risk the mails, which Kester evidently
was not, he would have used some
trusty go-between and through that
agency would have learned the news
from home and received from his rela-
tives the money upon which to live.
Upon the basis Of this theory Billy
Gard asked himself more questions.
Were / hiding under such condi-
tions whom would / use as messen-
ger?"
A faithful former servant who might