Proceedings at Geneva--Speculations as to the Missing Five Thousand
Dollars--John Manning Starts in Search of Thomas Duncan.
The days which followed the arrest of the three young bank robbers were
eventful ones in the history of Geneva. The three youthful offenders,
now downcast and humiliated, were afforded a speedy hearing, and when
the facts already adduced by us had been received, they were remanded to
jail for trial at the next term of court.
It is needless to say that the good citizens of the little town were
shocked beyond expression at the unexpected results of our
investigation. Both Pearson and Johnson had grown to manhood in their
midst, and until this time no taint of suspicion had ever been urged
against them. No thought of wrong-doing had ever attached to them, and
no shadow had dimmed the luster of their fair fame. Now all was changed,
and the irreproachable reputations of days gone by were shattered.
Debased and self-convicted, they stood before the bar of justice, to
answer for their crimes. Instead of being the objects of admiration,
they were now receiving the well-merited scorn of those who had been
their friends and neighbors. Scarcely past their majorities, and just
stepping over the threshold of life, the future bright with promises and
fruitful of golden experiences, they had recklessly thrown all to the
winds, and now stood before their former friends with the brand of the
felon upon their brows. No sadder spectacle could have been presented,
and certainly none more full of warning to the careless youths who
thronged the court-room, than the presence of the aged parents of these
young men on the day of the hearing. Their cup of bitterness and sorrow
was indeed full, and as they raised their tear-stained eyes to their
children, there was not one present whose heart did not throb in
sympathy for their misfortunes. More especially was this the case with
the mother of Eugene Pearson. He was her idol; and until the very moment
of his arrest, she had never known him to be guilty of aught that would
bring the blush of shame to his cheek. Now, however, the awful
revelation came, and the boy on whom she had lavished all the wealth of
her true heart's affection was proven, before all the world, to be the
blackest of ingrates, and a designing hypocrite and thief. Mr. Silby,
too, was much affected by the discovery of Pearson's guilt. His
affection and regard were so sincere and trustful, that, had he been his
own son, he could not have been more painfully disappointed at
discovering his cupidity.
Another interview had been obtained with Edwards at Geneva, and he gave
us some further particulars about the course which he and Duncan had
taken after having robbed the bank. Shortly after leaving the city of
Geneva, they made their way to the railroad, along the track of which
they journeyed for some distance. The day was exceedingly warm, and the
valise in which they were carrying the stolen money became very heavy
and burdensome. Finding it impossible to proceed any further with such a
heavy load, they decided to take out all of the money but a few sacks of
silver, amounting altogether to about three hundred dollars. This they
did, concealing the money about their persons, and then hiding the
valise in a corn field which skirted the railroad track. Being furnished
with a description of the locality, William proceeded, in company with
the officers of the bank, to the place designated, and after a short
search, succeeded in finding the satchel which they had discarded. Upon
opening it, they found, as Edwards had said, three small canvas sacks
containing about three hundred dollars in silver coin. No trace,
however, was discovered of the sack supposed to contain the five
thousand dollars whose disappearance was still a mystery. Pearson
indignantly denied having taken more than six thousand dollars as his
share, and this had been found in the yard of his father's house.
Edwards was equally positive that he had not seen this sack, and yet the
fact remained that there were five thousand dollars in gold coin which
could not, as yet, be accounted for.
Numerous theories were now advanced to account for this mysterious
disappearance. One was that some outside party had found the valise, and
finding the gold, had left the silver in order to make it appear that
the satchel had not been disturbed. This was discarded at once, as the
position and condition of the valise when found was such that it could
not have been tampered with, or even opened. This was a surprising thing
to contemplate, for the ground for miles around had been thoroughly
searched by hundreds of people, and it was evident that no one had
discovered the hiding-place of this valise.
Another theory was that it was improbable that the two robbers would
overlook a sack containing that large amount of money. Its very weight
would have betrayed its presence, and added nearly nineteen pounds to
the burden which they carried, and therefore there were still some
grounds for entertaining a belief that Pearson had taken more than his
share of the booty. To this belief I was not inclined to give much
weight, as I felt convinced that Pearson had made a full confession of
what had taken place, and had made honest restitution of the money he
had taken. Under all the circumstances, therefore, I was inclined to
think that Edwards and his companion had taken the gold, and that the
capture of the remaining robber would unravel the seeming mystery.
I was further convinced of this by another incident which transpired in
this connection. After the valise had been found and returned to the
bank, Edwards was taken into the building. The silver coin which had
been recovered was placed within the satchel, and handed to him. After
taking it in his hand, he immediately exclaimed:
"Why, that isn't nearly as heavy as it was when we left the bank!"
Mr. Silby then brought out a sack containing five thousand dollars in
gold, and placed it in the satchel. Again Edwards lifted it, and this
time he at once said:
"That is more like it!"
This experience strengthened me in the belief of Eugene Pearson's
innocence, and that Edwards and his companion had either lost the gold
in some manner, or had disposed of it in some other way.
Acting upon this theory, the ground in the vicinity of the spot where
the valise was found was thoroughly searched by both the bank officials
and my operatives. All in vain, however; no trace was obtained of the
missing sack of gold, and the matter of its loss was as much a mystery
as ever.
After the preliminary hearing had been held, the prisoners were removed
to the county town, some miles distant, where they were placed in
confinement, awaiting the day of trial, which would not take place for
some time to come.
While these events were transpiring, we had by no means been idle. Our
primary success in arresting the three men thus far secured, had been
most gratifying to the officers of the bank as well as to ourselves. Of
course I was anxious to continue the search for the missing robber, but
no one possessed a better knowledge than myself of the expense and delay
that would be contingent upon such an undertaking. I therefore, as was
my duty, fully informed the officers of the bank of the difficulty to be
encountered if our investigation was continued. More than thirty days
had elapsed since the robbery had been committed, the news of the
burglary had been spread far and wide, and the information of the
capture of the three robbers would be equally disseminated. This would
probably place the fugitive upon his guard, and we could not pretend to
fix a limit to the time that would be necessary to effect his capture.
All these facts were fully explained to the bank officials, and with
the assurance that we would achieve success if it were possible to do
so, the matter was left to their decision.
They were not long, however, in coming to a determination, and without
hesitation, I was directed to prosecute the search according to my own
judgment, in which, they assured me, they placed the utmost reliance.
Thus supported, we made immediate arrangements for a protracted and
unceasing search for the fleeing burglar, and before the hearing had
taken place in Geneva, operative John Manning had been despatched to
Clinton, Iowa, at which point it was designed to commence operations.
The two operatives who had been detailed to look after the trunks of
Thomas Duncan, in Chicago, had also reported the result of their
espionage. After waiting for more than two hours, they noticed that an
express wagon was driven up before the door, after which the trunks were
brought out, placed in the wagon, and rapidly driven away. The
operatives followed as rapidly as they were able to do, and ascertained
that they were taken to the railroad station for shipment to Des Moines.
As has already been detailed, Edwards and Duncan parted company at
Clinton, Iowa, Duncan proceeding west, while Edwards had come direct to
Chicago, from which point he had made his way eastward to the little
village in New York, where he remained in fancied security until he was
so unexpectedly taken into custody.
Clinton, Iowa, was therefore the place from which to trace the flight of
the bank robber, and John Manning was dispatched to that place, with
full authority to exercise his own judgment about his future course of
action.