River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1922-01-05
True
Detective Stories
VANISHING MAN

WHEN 6iueOh IAdDSnaW, chlei Va
w detectives. of Cleveland, Ohio
was notified over the long dis
lance wire from Buffalo, that the
police of that city had captured the
four men responsible for the murder
of Patrolman Leroy Bouker, he smiled,
shrugged his shoulders, and muttered
"Fine work That much is out of
the way!'
But, had Rabshaw only known
1t, his troubles were only beginning
for one of the bandits. man by the
name of Meaney, determined to fight
for his life with every weapon that
the law afforded him.
Securing an attorney familiar with
the kinks and twists of criminal law,
he quickly succeeded in manufacture
ing an alibi which appeared TO be iron
clad Half dozen witnesses Swore
that, at the time Bouker was shot,
Meaney had been in their company,
and that it was physically impossible
for him to reach the scene of the crime
in time TO take part in the murder.
Meaney's lawyer followed his clients
instructions to make the alibi good
enough for me to have "a hours clear
ance-once I'm out of Cleveland they'll
never find me" and the district at
torney, rather than imperil the entire
case, decided to drop the proceedings
against Meaney and concentrate his
attack upon the other three men who
had the foresight to provide themselves
with capable legal assistance. There
fore, in spite of the pleadings of Chief
Rabshaw, Meaney was released.
Less than twelve hours later, the
chief Of detectives secured evidence
that riddled the carefully prepared
alibi-evidence which proved that
Meaney had been directly implicated
in the murder. But it was too late.
The gunman had vanished, apparently
into thin ar!
Spurred on by realization that he
had had the man he wanted, actually
lodged in Jail, only to have him slip
through lo0phole in the legal wall
which surrounded him, Rabshaw de-
termined to nail the escaped murder
er if, as he stated, sit took ten years
and every man on the force to do it,
The city of Cleveland was combed
from one end to the other. Every
known meeting place in the under
world was watched and raided and
closed.
But the days heightened into weeks,
and the weeks into months and still
there was no trace of Meaney.
At night, when his days work was
finished, Rabshaw would relieve the
man always on watch at the former
Meaney home, for the chief had a
theory that some day the fugitive's
wife would provide the clue which
would lead them TO the man they
wanted.
"Yes, I know it's hard work and
tedious work." Rabshaw would say,
as he took up his nightly vigil. But
there's no woman alive that can out
wit us if we keep steadily at it.
AS events proved, however, Rab-
shaw was wrong. The clue which led
to the final capture came from an
other and unexpected source.
1t was some eleven months after
the Bouker murder-after Meaney had
been traced to Toledo and Pittsburgh
and st. Louis and Toronto and vari-
Gus points in between, the police al
ways one jump behind him-that Rab-
shaw dropped into the Cleveland post
office to purchase a stamp. There was
nothing unusual in the action itself.
He had bought stamps at that window
hundreds of times before. But there
was something in the attitude of the
woman ahead of him in line, some
thing furtiye about the manner in
which she attempted to conceal the
address of the letter WHICH she ca
ried, which made the chief of the de-
tectives wonder what was wrong.
When he caught flash of her face,
half-hidden under long black VEIL
he had an intuition that he knew her
reason for trying to prevent anyone
from seeing the letter. The woman
was Meaney's sister-in-law.
AS she purchased the stamp and
bent forward to affix it, Rabshaw
stepped swiftly out of line, and sue
ceeded in catching a glimpse of the
envelope. One glance was all he
needed. The missive was addressed
to John NJ. Oliver, at a number which
Rabshaw knew was in secluded and
quiet part of Indianapolis.
Early the following morning Rab-
shaw took up his vigil outside the
house where Oliver was supposed to
be living. But no one answering to
the description CT the missing man
made his appearance, so the Cleveland
chief determined to force the issue by
sending two of the local police in to
find out If anyone by, that name re-
sided there. Scarcely had they re-
ported that solver lived there, but
was out at the time" than Meaney
strolled down the street and started
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