The Mystery of the Missing Five Thousand Dollars Solved at Last--The
Money Recovered--Duncan at Geneva.
On the day following the arrival of Duncan in Chicago, he was conveyed
to Geneva, in company with my son William and a trusty operative. As may
be imagined, the appearance of the fourth and hitherto unknown burglar
threw the inhabitants of the quiet little town into another state of
wild excitement, this time, however, without any indication of hostility
to my officers or their actions. A charge of sentiment had taken place
in the public mind, and now, instead of threatened resistance to our
movements, my men were received with every evidence of approbation and
indorsement.
Thomas Duncan was taken at once to the bank and here he made a full
statement of his connection with the robbery, the amount of money which
he and Newton Edwards obtained, and detailed at length his travels from
the time he left Geneva until he was arrested at Butte City by John
Manning. He fully corroborated the statement of Newton Edwards about
their disappointment in not obtaining, within five thousand dollars, as
much money as they expected, and he expressed the belief that Eugene
Pearson had taken this additional sum, and had thus deceived both his
companions and the bank.
He fully explained the disposition they made of the valise, which
contained the silver, by hiding it in the corn-field by the road-side;
after which they continued their journey unincumbered by the weight of
the coin, which they did not consider valuable enough to burden
themselves with.
After he had finished, William inquired:
"Was there no other sack or sacks than those you have mentioned as being
in the valise when you threw it away? Did you not dispose of some
before you parted with the satchel? Think carefully now; there is a
mystery about that sack of gold which we want to solve, if possible."
"Eugene Pearson declares," added Mr. Silby, the bank president, "that he
has given up everything, and is positive that you took away from the
bank nearly fifteen thousand dollars in currency and coin."
Again, as in the case of Edwards, the valise was brought out, and the
amount of money which was supposed to have been taken at the time of the
robbery, less five thousand dollars in gold, was handed to Duncan to
lift. Duncan raised it in his hand, and at once pronounced it lighter
than when they carried it away from the bank. A sack containing five
thousand dollars in gold was then added, and when he again took it in
his hands, he exclaimed:
"That's more like it; when we left the bank the valise was fully that
heavy."
"Now, Mr. Duncan," said Mr. Silby, "this test satisfies me that Eugene
Pearson is innocent of having taken more money than he has restored to
us, and that when you left the bank, you carried away the amount he
states."
While Mr. Silby was speaking, Duncan had been recalling all the events
which had transpired during their flight, and endeavoring to trace, step
by step, all that they had done.
"I remember now," he said slowly, after a few moments, "that before we
concluded to throw away the valise, we sat down by the railroad track to
rest. We then opened the valise, to see what it contained. Among the
contents, I noticed a small, dingy sack, which was marked
'silver--$100,' and that being pretty heavy, and only a small amount, I
took it and hid it in the weeds that were growing around us. I suppose
it is there yet, provided no one has found and removed it."
At this juncture, Mr. Welton, the cashier, who had been listening
quietly, jumped to his feet and excitedly exclaimed:
"That solves the mystery! I remember distinctly having placed that gold
in a sack marked silver, as it was the only one we could find at the
time." Then turning to Duncan, he added: "You, therefore, instead of
throwing away one hundred dollars in silver, as you supposed, actually
disposed of five thousand dollars in as good gold as ever came from the
mint."
This explanation appeared to be as plain as the sun at noonday, and it
was evident that, mistaking the contents of the sack to be silver, and
of a small amount, Duncan had thrown it away, not deeming it worth the
trouble of taking.
"Can you tell the spot where you disposed of this sack?" asked William,
who still indulged in the hope of recovering the missing money.
"I think I could find it," answered Duncan. "And if you gentlemen will
accompany me, I think I can point it out to you."
Without delay, a carriage was procured, and Mr. Silby, Mr. Welton,
Duncan and my son William, started off. They proceeded in the
direction which Duncan said they had traveled after leaving the bank,
and without difficulty he found the spot where he said they had stopped
to rest.
Alighting from the carriage, Duncan pointed out the place where they had
seated themselves, and he sat down in what he claimed was the exact
spot. It was at the foot of a little bank, which rose abruptly from the
roadside, and was covered thickly with heavy grass and weeds, now dry
and withered, and closely packed together. The three men who accompanied
Duncan grew exceedingly anxious at this point, for a few moments would
decide the question of the recovery of a large amount of money, or its
unquestionable loss. Silently they waited, as Duncan thrust his hand
under this growth of dry grass and weeds, where he said he had put the
gold, and with surprise and joy they saw him draw forth the identical
dingy-looking canvas bag. Exultantly he held it aloft, and then placed
it in the hands of Mr. Welton, who, on opening it, found the shining
gold pieces, and the mystery of the missing money was solved at last.
[Illustration: With surprise and joy they saw him draw forth the
identical dingy-looking canvas bag.]
During all the weeks that had elapsed since the robbery, that gold had
lain there undisturbed. Hundreds and thousands of people had tramped
over the ground in the hope of finding some traces of the burglars, and
no one had discovered the snug little sum which lay so temptingly near
them, and which might have been theirs for the simple trouble of taking
it.
As for the bank officials and ourselves, our gratification at this
profitable discovery was only exceeded by our astonishment at the
singular manner in which it had been at last accomplished. Then, too, it
set at rest all doubts as to the truthfulness of young Pearson's story,
and proved conclusively that he was honestly regretful and penitent for
the crime he had committed, and had given up all he had taken. At the
same time it relieved his companions from any suspicion of having made
away with or concealed it for future use.
As for Duncan, to his credit it must be added, that he seemed as much
pleased and relieved at this restoration of the stolen money as did any
of the others, and this action impressed the officers of the bank with a
feeling of profound sympathy for the unfortunate young man, and
convinced them that although he had been guilty of a serious crime, he
was not really bad at heart, and that this was his first offense, into
which he had been led by his thoughtless folly and reckless dissipation.
At his request, he was allowed to see Miss Patton, and to her he frankly
and feelingly expressed his regrets for having so roughly treated her,
and her forgiving words were received as gratefully as could have been
desired.
Our work was nearly finished. Out of twenty thousand dollars which had
been taken, we had succeeded in recovering nearly eighteen thousand
dollars; the balance, having been squandered by Edwards and Duncan, was,
of course, irretrievably gone. But this was good enough as it was, and
the officers of the bank were satisfied and delighted at this most
satisfactory conclusion of an operation which, at its commencement,
promised so little, and out of which such great results had flowed.
The party returned to Geneva, and the next day Duncan was formally
arraigned. He waived an examination, and in default of bail was removed
to the county prison, where his confederates were already confined,
anxiously awaiting their trial.