The Meeker herald., 1922-05-13
True
Detective Stories
!. ALLAN PINKERTON'S
RECORD CASE

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1THERE was no response 70 the
impatient knocking on the neaVy
doors OF the Adams express com
pany's building near the END OF mo
Columbus (O) Union stsuon' one
ulght In the middle OF winter. ihere
stood the train, with the usual oustie
and clamor preparatory 10 oepartute'
but the express clerk and his assist
ant had not made their appearance.
Bang! bang! Bang!
This time John Grossman. the ex-
press messenger. knocked harder than
ever. for 1t was beginning TO dawn
upon him that something must ne
wrong. A moment later he tried the
knob OF the door. To his amazement
It turned easily and he stepped FOR
ward into utter darkness. stumbling
over boxes and packages until ne
reached the gas jet In the center Oh
the room. Papers and parcels lay
in wild confusion all over tne
floor, the door Of the safe STOOD open
and the clerk and his assistant were
lying IN one corner. III sor' VI ''uio''
1t was evident that the two men
had been chloroformed-the s'ckenins
odor OF the drug still perSaoea tne
room-and that the company naa Deeh
robbed. in spite OF the fact that nun
dreds of people had been JUST outslue
the building all during the evening"
These circumstances. coupled win inc
fact that $4,000 was missing from the
safe, were all that Allan P,nRerton
had to work upon when ne reached
Columbus the following morning.
The details Of the robbery were oo-
tanned directly from John Barker, the
express clerk.
According to Barker, he and his as
sistant were stretched out on two cots.
ss usual about ten o'clock in the eve
ming. taking a nap before going on
duty on the train which was due to
leave Columbus shortly after MID
night.
~ was awakened by what appeared
10 he muffied pounding or pushing
nj the door" Barker continued.
"Naa the door locked?" inquired
pinkerton.
.It was-ond bolted. L didn't pay
.,ter,ion to the matter because.
Wills we d,d hive $4,000 In the safe
no OOo Of II In revenue stamps
NO had often guarded a good deal
,,,ore and I thought the noise had
been made BY some one who bad
stumbled against the door in the dark
ness. Then. before got really awake.
n heard the bolt give, and the next
thing I knew some one had piniOned
nv arms. and I cnught whit OF
something which recognized as chlo-
reform. / struggled. but 1t was no
use. When / came to, Grossman. the
messenger, was bending over me. and
the whole place lonked like a cyclone
had struck It. The $4,000 in cash
was gone. but they had overlooked
or deliberately left the $4,000 in
stamps."
p,nker,on made no comment at the
time but continued his examination
NJ the room where the robbery had
taken place. A careful scrutiny Of
the door revealed two Interesting
facts: The bolt had been bent, as II
II had been In plnce when the door
was forced. but 1t was bent far mora
than was necessary to secure an en-
trance to the room. and there were no
scratches or other signs OF violence
on the outside Of the door.
All the evidence appeared to point
to the fact that the job had been
handled from the inside, and pinker-
ton Immediately ordered the arrest Of
Barker and his assistant. Tho two
men protested their Innocence.
Upon looking into Barker's ante
cet,ent.. Pinkerton found that the ex-
press clerk had a brother living In
Chicago. a man who was reputed to be