The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1922-03-02
True
Detective Stories
MATTER oFMiNUTES

of the Rock Island Express had
been effected I'm less than a quar-
ter Of an hour. The express car had
been hitched on Immediately behind
the engine, and one Of the firemen
recalled having seen Kellogg, the mes
senger, checking UP his accounts about
fifteen minutes before the train pulled
into Morris, Ill. The next time he
glanced up shade had been pulled
across the window Of the express car,
| and the first he know Of the robbery
was after the train stopped at Morris,
and Pitney. the brakeman, shouted
out that Kellogg had been killed and
that thousands Of dollars was missing
from the safe.
jameson, who was In charge Of the
baggage car, directly behind the ex-
press car, provided what appeared to
be the only clue to the crime, by stat
Ing that shortly after the train left
Joliet, a man In a red musk had en-
tered his oar, held him up at the
point of revolver, and had then
passed through to the chr beyond, leav-
ing Jameson in charge Of another
| masked man who had disappeared az
eAAO tiahh ShOWcu uUWh h1OTTIb.
II was scared stifr," admitted the
bagaa gen|nn, -and didn't dare bulge.
The express authorities at Morris
promptly sidetracked the express car,
and wired the details Of the case to
William A. Pinkerton, who arrived
! only few hours later. Meanwhile.
however. the contents Of the safe had
been checked up, and 1t was dis
covered that more than $4,000 was
missing. Kellogg, the messenger. was
dead. hut before dying, ne had evil
IDENTIFY given good account Of himself.
Before he did anything else. Pinker-
ton walked back over the track on
which the train had come into Morris.
Less than half mile out he dis
covered red mask. lying close to the
track. and he also noted most sig
nifcant fact-although there was more
than foot Of snow upon the ground,
there were no footprints within q
quarter-mile OF the mask!
Returning to Norris the detective
commenced his examination Of the ex-
press car, hut failed to find anything
of value.
, Close inspection of the body of the
dead messenger, however, brought to
light another point which PInkerton
felt certain ought to prove valuable.
Under Kellogg's finger nails was
considerable quantity Of what at first
appeared to he wet paper or pulp Of
some kind, hut which the detective
recognized as the outer layers Of
human skin, torn off during the
struggle when the messengers fingers
were fighting to secure a hold upon
his assailant!
Upon returning to Chicago, Pinker-
ton at once requested the officials Of
the road to have all the men employed
on the train come to his office, one
by one, to be interviewed. Jameson, he
directed, was to be the last man sent.
When Pitney, the brakeman, en-.
tered, Plnkerton did not overlook the
fact that he was dressed In a new
outfit which was distinctly above his
sphere In life. From the points Of
his glossy shoes to the top Of his new
derby, the brakeman had evidently.
! treated himself to brand-new ward.
robe In honor OF his interview with,
the famous detective, In spite Of the,
fact that he had very little to tell.
II was he who had discovered the
robbery. but he had seen nothing OF
TIE man In the red mask, though
Jameson's excited recital Of the hold
up had caused him Immediately ta
investigate the express car.
"rlut was Just as we were pulling
into Norris" concluded the brakeman
"nnd 1 gave a yell the minute I saw
what they had done to Kellogg"
THAT'S what I wanted to talk To
you about" said Pinkerton. 'ssit
down. won't your And take on your
coat, it's warm In here Your
gloves, too, he added, noting that Pit
ney kept his hands covered.
After moments hesitation the
brakeman peeled Off his new gloves
and Pinkerton had dlfflculty Irr conceal
ing q start Of satisfaction. The backs
Of the mars hands were scanned and
scored with network Of scsatehest
Been playing with the eatr' fn-
oufred Pinkerton casually.
mo, no." Pitney replied. ~ got those
handling busted trunk few nights
ago." and then he launched into a.
description Of his experiences on the
night of the robbery. When he hadl
finished. PInkerton thanked him and
bowed him ont Of the office, but the
muffied buzz OF n hell In the anteroom!
Informed the men stationed there that
Pitney was to be followed night and.
day.
$50 far as I was concerned" Plnker-.
ton said later, ''the case ended right
there. The backs Of Pitney's hands,,
coupled with the absence of foot prints,
in the vicinity of the red mask.
which proved that the Job had BEEN
handled by someone on the train
I gave the whole thing dead away.
There had been no hold-up in the bag.
gage car. Therefore, jameson was i'm
the game, too. The pair of them had