Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1922-01-05

in a dying condition. bullet
having drilled hole through his lung
lit was only natural that Dennis
Tracey should take up the trail of the
murderers. Tracey was Lawrence's
closest friend on the force.
No one knew anything tabOut the
circumstances which led. up to the
crime, and, apparently there was lit
tie hope of discovering any clue, be-.
cause Lawrence, though not dead when
discovered on the following morning,
was extremely weak from exposure
and loss of blood. According to the
physicians, it was practically a GER
taintyf that he would die. without re-
covering consciousness. l., st%
After leaving orders at the hospital
that he was to be notified at once if
his friend showed signs of being able
to talk, Tracey visited the scene, of the
shooting in the hope of being able to
find footprints or other evidence which
would assist him in the search which
he intended to make. The inVestigal
ton, however. was entirely fruitless.
The dying policeman's revolver mad
been fired three times, but without
effectT77fors Tracey found the, bullets
lodged in the rafters. of nearby ware
house, sufficiently close together to
provide hazy outline. of the place
from which Lawrence's assailant must
have fired. SO far as Tracey was able
to reconstruct the affair, Lawrence bad
come upon some one trying to break
into the warehouse. had probably
warned him by shot over his head
and followed that by two other shots
which failed to take effect The burg
lar had then turned and fired point
blank at the policeman, dropping iIim
where he stood.
But who was the other man?
This was the question to which
| Tracey determined to devote as much
time as necessary, the problem with
out a clue
1t was late the following night be-
fore LaWrenCe'S condition showed any
signs of change, and then only for the
worse. The physicians gave him only
few hours to live, and Tracey hung
continually over the bed. hoping for
some word or sign which would pro-
vide an indication Of the murderer's
identity. Finally 1t came.
With an almost superhuman effort
TIE dying officer raised himself on one
elbow, and gathering every ounce Of
his fast-failing energy, whispered the
single word:
"Wil-kin-sOn !"
Then he fell back, dead. ,-....
But that last wor% was enough. Had
Il not been Tracey who's heard. 1t, 1t
would have meant nething-for the
two officers, had been secretly working
IN n number Of recent warehouse
EMrglaries and they alone knew of the
suspected connection Of Daniel Will
KinsOn, son of a prominent New Hamp-
shire family, with the one-man thefts.
Now Tracey knew that not only was
! Wilkinson guilty of the burglaries, but
Of far greater crime-the murder Of
Policeman Lawrence. ~
| Putting himself in the place of the
criminal, Tracey felt certain that the
latter would not remain In or around
Bath. He, must have known that Law
renee had recognized him, and would
fear that the dying man would: find
| some way of imparting this knowledge
It was probable, therefore, that he
gould head for some hiding-place
where he would be comparatively safe
Knowing that Wilkinson's family, in
an effort to whiten the character of
the black sheep, had sent him to sea a
number. Of years before, Tracey
thought 1t likely that the fugitive
would attempt to join the crew of a
sailing vessel and lose himself In q
foreign port. He accordingly warned
the authorities of all the New Eng
land sea ports to be on the watch
for a man of Wilkinson's description,
and then, securing leave of absence,
he took up the searCh-combing the
Nul'IlIOlllS VI every city anu tONu
from the Canadian border to Boston
1t was nearly six months later, af-
ter he had almost abandoned hope,
that Tracey wandered along the
wharves Mt Bangor and spotted tho
man he wanted porting" lumber into
the schooner Good Intent, at the foot
Of the Railroad street wharf. With
out a sound the policeman edged his
way along the dock until he was be-
hind Wilkinson, and then dropped on
top Of his man, flattenlng him to the
deck. Almost before he knew what
had happened the fugitive found him
self handcuffed and on his way back
to Bath, there to be convicted of the
murder of William Lawrence, after
one Of the hardest-fOught legal battles
in the history Of the state.
The fact that, In the shadow of the
state prison wall at Thomaston, there
stands today a headstone bearing the
numerals $685." does not close the
case, for there are many who claim
that the murderer had powerful friends
who succeeded in saving him from the
| II. n Il n