The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-27

behooved us to move quickly and not
wait for an answer from Washing
ton.
In the training area where the
murder had been committed we had
over seven thousand troops. 1t
seemed like a hopeless task to search
through such a body of men to find
one who might have been the muir
derer. Just at this time we had sew
eral other cases pending investiga-
ton, so l was able to detail only
two men to the task of ferriting out
the guilty one.
The Doctors who performed the
autopsy on Jean, reported that ths
murder had been committed between
six and eight o'clock. on the night of
June 10, so our first duty was to
check up all the passes issued on
that date. 1nasmuch as all passes
had to be turned in to the local
guardhouse when the soldier re-
turned from his leave and the time
of the return stamped thereon, we
had basis to start from. Every man
who was absent from the camps on
June 10, was placed under suspicion
until our investigation had cleared
him. This narrowed our work to
quite an extent as all we had to
search for We're the men who had
been out on that day. First one and
then another of these men was in
vestigated and eliminated from the
case. Finally the search dwindled
to any one of six men whose stories
of what they were doing on that
night did not seem plausible to US.
once more checking up on these six
men, we finally eliminated all but
one, whose story still did not i'm
press us as true.
Just as we had narrowed the search
to this one man, the very thing which
we feared more than anything else
happened-this mans regiment was
ordered to the front. We had no di-
rect evidence which at this tins
would warrant an arrest SO we could
do nothing else than follow him to
the front. Sergeant kirkman was
the one selected to go. Kirkman, be-
fore the war, had been a policeman
on the Boston force and as
shadower few were his equal and
man we called him-and right well
did he merit his name. Probably
never in the history of a murder case
was man shawoded under more
thrilling circumstances than was this
one. Kirkman had been regularly
transferred to the suspects COM
pany. We took the captain of this
him assign Kirkman to the same
squad as that to which the suspect
belonged. The regiment was in the
all done in either the trenches, the
all done neither the trenches, tho
dugouts. or out in No Mans Land.
At all times a close watch had to
be maintained over the suspect lest
he realize that some one was after
him and desert or surrender to the
Boche. Then, too, there was the
danger that in the continual fight
ing kirkman himself might be killed
and all his work nullified-but this
was a chance we had to take.
One night, while on an advance
post with three members of the sus,
poets company, Kirkman determined
on bold stroke to see if men knew
aught of the murder.
You remember that Frenchman
who was murdered back in the train
ing area?" queried Kirkman We'll,
| would not want to have that muir
der on my soul up here. Just think
what it would mean to a fellow to
be killed before he had a chance to
confess. How awful to be obliged
to face God with a thing like that
murder to explain"
Picture, if you can, dear reader.
these men in that advanced post
pushed out into No Mans Land not
knowing, in the darkness, what min
ute death would find them. Kirk
man, the big chap, in his quiet, seri-
GUS but forceful way telling of the
horrors of having to face the be-
yond with murder on ones soul
1t was enough to cause anyone to
ponder deeply. While at this time
the suspect himself was not present,
yet Kirkman was in hopes that some
one of the other three might take
the lesson to heart and if he knew
the least thing about the case would
tell of it. In this Kirkman was not
disappointed for one of the men
spoke up;
Il saw Private--(he named
the suspecD just before pay day with
a pocket fun Of money, but owing,
to our move up here and to the fact
that ever since our arrival we have
been under constant fire. l neglected
to tell our captain about it.
Bottles the nickname of Pri-
vate----- asked me to go out
to cafe with him for a drink.
knowing that only the day before he
had tried to borrow money from me,
| laughed at him and told him to
wait until after pay day. He then
put both his hands in his pockets and
pulled them out filled with silver. 1
asked him where he found so much.
and he said he had sold lot Of bot
ties that day."
Immediately another of the three
volunteered the information that he.
too, knew about Bottles" having
been flush at this time. He said:
Il saw Bottles counting his
money and he had about fifty francs,
in silver and bills. He repaid me a
loan of fifteen francs Just before we
We're ordered to the front"
Luckil. for the success of our case
kirkman came through the cam
paien Lnhurt and at the first oppor-
tunity ne got off report to us Civ
ing us the information he had
gathered out there in No Mans Land
For fear that these two men might
be killed during the fighting and l
would lose some of my witnesses, ]
requested an order be issued trans