saying, he withdrew and returned to me.
"So he is writing a letter, is he?" said I. "We must learn the contents
of that letter, and I have not a minute to lose. Knox, find Green and
Miller and bring them over here at once. Thank goodness, it is getting
so dark that we shall not be noticed."
Knox was off like a shot, and in a very few minutes all my men were with
me.
"Green," I said, "go to your hotel, pay your bill, and proceed to the
Pattmore House. When you register your name, you must hail the clerk as
an old acquaintance. This will be an easy matter, as hotel clerks are
known by hundreds of people. Miller, you must be in the office at the
same time, and you must both remain there until Pattmore puts his letter
in the mail-box. Then, Green you must ask the clerk out to take a drink,
and while you are gone, Miller must get possession of the letter. When
you have secured it, come over to the Globe Hotel, where I am stopping."
Green hurried off to the Clarendon House to get his carpet-bag, and
Miller returned to the Pattmore House. I also sent Knox to watch
Pattmore, and to follow him wherever he might go, until he retired for
the night.
Soon after Miller reached the office, Pattmore came down stairs with a
letter, which Miller carefully scrutinized, so as to be able to
recognize it among a group of others.
"Has the mail for the West closed yet?" asked Pattmore.
"No," replied the clerk, "there is still about an hour to spare."
Pattmore then dropped his letter into the mail-box and went out. At this
moment Green stepped up to the desk, registered his name, and asked for
a room. As the clerk was attending to his room and baggage, Green
looked intently at him, as if trying to recall his name. Then, stepping
forward, he said, cordially:
"Why, how are you? When did you come here? Let me see; the last time I
saw you was at a hotel in Buffalo, wasn't it?"
This was a lucky guess, for the clerk replied:
"Havn't you seen me since then? Why, I left there over a year ago."
"Well, I'm right glad to see you again," said Green; "step into the
bar-room and take a 'smile' with me."
"I can't very well leave the office just now," said the clerk.
"Oh, yes you can," said Green; "your friend there will look after the
office for a few minutes; come along."
"Wait here until I come back, will you?" the clerk asked Miller, as he
went off with Green.
[Illustration: "_As soon as the clerk had left the office, Miller
quietly extracted Pattmore's letter from the box._"--Page 157.]
As soon as the clerk had left the office, Miller quietly extracted
Pattmore's letter from the box. He had marked its appearance so well
that he only needed one glance to identify it and he secured it so
quickly that none of the crowd outside the desk noticed any movement on
his part. In a few minutes the clerk returned to the desk, and Miller
lounged out into the bar-room, whence he hurried over to meet me at the
Globe Hotel. He there gave me the letter, which was addressed:
"Mrs. Annie Thayer,
"Chicago,
"Illinois."
I carefully opened it by a simple process, which did not leave any
evidence that the envelope had been tampered with. The letter began: "My
own dear Annie," and the writer went on to caution Mrs. Thayer that she
must not be alarmed at the news he was about to tell her. He said that
some of his enemies had started a report that he had poisoned his late
wife. He had no doubt that the Whig newspapers would spread and magnify
these reports; still, he had no fears that they would be of any
permanent injury to him, since his friend, coroner Van Valkenburgh, had
agreed to hold an inquest, and there would be no difficulty in proving
his innocence. He begged her to excuse the haste and brevity of the
note, as he only had time to dash off a few lines to assure her that all
was well, and to warn her not to become alarmed at anything she might
see in the newspapers. The letter was signed: "Ever your loving and
devoted husband,
ALONZO PATTMORE."
"Well, this is certainly strange," I meditated. "Her 'devoted
_husband_,' eh? How can that be? He has had no opportunity to marry her
since his wife died; hence, unless he committed bigamy, this title of
'husband' is only assumed in anticipation; yet Mrs. Thayer is,
undoubtedly, beautiful and winning, and she may have induced him to ease
her conscience by a form of marriage, even while his legal wife still
lived. I must look into this more closely on my return to Chicago."
I then re-sealed the letter and gave it back to Mr. Miller, with
instructions to return to the hotel and keep a general watch on all that
went on. He was not to mail the letter until early the next morning. As
Miller went out Knox came in.
"Well, Knox, what news?" I asked.
"Mr. Pattmore has gone away in a hack," replied Knox, breathlessly.
"What direction did he take?"
"He drove off at a rapid rate toward the southern part of the town, and
I could not keep up, nor get on behind. I took the number of the hack,
though," answered Knox.
"That was right," I remarked, as Knox paused to get his breath.
"It was number fifty-two, and the driver seemed to be an Irishman. He
looked like a genial, half-grown, young fellow, and I do not think I
shall have any difficulty in pumping him when he returns, as I know
where his stand is."
"Right again," I exclaimed. "Now you had better wait around there until
the hack returns; then get into conversation with the driver, and ask
him to take a drink in the nearest saloon; while you are talking with
him, you can easily learn where Pattmore went."
It was ten o'clock when Knox left me, and, as I was greatly fatigued, I
went to bed immediately. Shortly after midnight, Knox again awoke me.
"What news?" I asked, starting up. "Did you succeed in learning anything
from the hackman?"
"Yes," replied Knox; "he returned a little before eleven o'clock, and I
asked him whether he knew where there were any young ladies I could
visit. He said that he knew several places. I then asked him to take a
drink while we talked about it. I said, I judged, from his appearance,
that he was just the young fellow who could take me where I wanted to
go; that I was crossing the street to employ him in the early part of
the evening, when he was taken by another gentleman, who probably went
to the same kind of a place that I wanted to find. This had confirmed my
opinion of the hackman, so I had decided to await his return. 'By the
way,' I added, 'was I right about that gentleman?' The driver laughed
loudly, and said that that was Mr. Pattmore, and that he did not go to
such places. He went on to say that Mr. Pattmore's wife had been dead
only a few days, and he supposed that Mr. Pattmore had gone out to pay
the grave-digger, since his visit had been made to that individual at
the graveyard gate."
"Did the boy say whether Pattmore saw the grave-digger?" I asked.
"Yes," continued Knox; "I pumped out all that the young fellow knew. The
grave-digger lives in a little shanty close by the graveyard, and, on
arriving there, Pattmore called the fellow to one side, and conversed
with him in a low tone for some time. He then paid him some money,
entered the hack, and told the boy to drive straight back to the
Pattmore House, where Pattmore discharged the hackman. I drew this
information out of the boy very easily, without appearing to take any
special interest in the story. I then told him to drive me to some quiet
house where I could meet some young ladies. He took me to a place near
here, and I paid him off immediately, saying that I should spend the
night there. As soon as he was out of sight, I came straight here,
without going into the house at all."
"By Jove!" I exclaimed, "we shall have some rough work to-night, and we
must be quick, too. Go over to the Pattmore House, find out from the
register what room Green is in, and wake him up as soon as possible.
Tell him to come here, being careful that no one notices him, and to be
sure to bring his pistols. You have yours, have you not, Mr. Knox?"
"Yes; do you expect to need them?"
"It is quite possible, as we shall have some risky work to-night. I will
meet you outside, and you must tell Green to prepare for a march.
Luckily we are all good walkers."
Knox hurried away, and, in a short time, both of my detectives joined me
in the street. We then hired a hack and drove to within half a mile of
the graveyard, where I paid off the hackman, and we entered the grounds
of a residence, standing some distance back from the road. My object in
entering these grounds, was to make the hackman believe we were stopping
there; otherwise, his curiosity would have been excited as to my reasons
for going into the country at that hour of the night. As soon as the
hack was out of sight, we returned to the highway, and, after a brisk
walk, we reached the graveyard.
_CHAPTER V._
The resting places of the dead are localities which I do not much care
to visit in the night. In the day time it is different; there is a holy
calm about a cemetery then which impresses me with a feeling of rest,
and I can really enjoy an hour or two in quiet contemplation of the
monuments and humble head-stones of a large burial ground. But in the
night, even the least superstitious person in the world will be awed by
the solemnity pervading our cities of the dead, and will quicken his
pace as the wind rustles mournfully through the shrubbery. I never
should care to go into a grave-yard at night, as a matter of choice; but
business is business, and must be transacted, no matter how unpleasant
the surroundings may be.
The first difficulty I encountered on entering the Greenville cemetery,
was, that I did not know where Mrs. Pattmore's grave was located. We
therefore separated to the distance of about one hundred yards, and
advanced through the underbrush across the grounds. We arranged, before
starting, to meet at a certain tall tree, which stood up against the sky
in the dim starlight. Green had gone only a few rods when he came upon
three men. Their smoky lantern threw a ghastly light upon their work,
and they were so busily engaged in digging that they did not notice him.
He quickly withdrew and hurried after me. It was some time after he
overtook me before we could find Knox, but we finally met and returned
to the place where the body-snatchers were at work. It was evident that
they were professionals, for they had worked so rapidly as to have
nearly succeeded in getting the coffin out of the grave.
A thrill of horror even now goes through me as I think of that night;
the white tomb-stones stood forth among the foliage, by which they were
surrounded, like sheeted ghosts, and the waving leaves gave them the
appearance of weird shapes in fantastic motion. The light of the lantern
feebly glimmered in one direction, and the body-snatchers flitted about
like restless ghouls preparing for a horrible banquet. We approached as
quietly as possible, and, on emerging from the cover of a copse of hazel
bushes, we made a general rush forward. The ghouls were too quick for
us, however, and they ran away at a break-neck speed which we did not
dare to imitate. They had the great advantage of knowing every foot of
the ground, while we were continually obliged to dodge around some
obstruction. First, Knox stumbled headlong over a low grave, and then I
became entangled in some trailing vines. As I regained my feet, I saw
Green rising from an encounter with a chain which had tripped him, and
we simultaneously abandoned the chase. It was clearly useless to follow
them further, but we fired at them with our revolvers in the hope of
frightening them into a surrender. One of them instantly stopped,
returned our fire, and then continued his flight. This satisfied me that
they were old hands at the business of grave-robbing, and that they were
not to be scared by long-range pistol practice. After watching for a
couple of hours, I returned with my men to the city, being convinced
that the body-snatchers would not make another attempt to rob the grave.
As I walked back, I tried to account, in my own mind, for this new move
of Pattmore. I could not see the advantage to be gained by the removal
of Mrs. Pattmore's body, and I retired to rest with that problem still
unsolved.
Being greatly fatigued, it was eight o'clock next morning before I
awoke. While I was at breakfast Mr. Miller came in, but he had nothing
to report, except that Pattmore seemed greatly troubled, and looked very
haggard. I ordered Miller to watch Pattmore closely, and to engage him
in conversation as much as possible. I then went in search of Sheriff
Tomlinson, whom I soon found. Believing him to be a thoroughly
trustworthy man, I related to him all that had occurred the night
before. He was much astonished at my story, and said that he was sorry I
had not asked him to accompany me, as he knew the graveyard well. If the
body-snatchers had been caught, they might have been able to give very
important testimony at the inquest. Pattmore might have been held to
appear before the grand jury on their testimony alone.
"Yes," I replied; "no one regrets their escape more than I do; but I am
almost equally annoyed by the fact that I cannot reach a satisfactory
conclusion as to Pattmore's motive in having his wife's body carried
off. Of course, if the coroner's men should have found the body gone,
every one would suspect Pattmore of having had it removed. However, I
propose to solve the mystery in some way. By the way, Mr. Tomlinson,
when do you expect the body to arrive?"
"It will be here by eleven o'clock, and the men having it in charge,
will take it directly to Coroner Van Valkenburgh's office."
"I suppose he will impanel a jury," I remarked.
"Certainly," the sheriff replied; "and it would be well for you to be
present to watch the proceedings. Pattmore must be made to face the
music in some way."
Accordingly, I watched the coroner's office until I saw the hearse
arrive, and, when the coffin was carried in, I followed it. The
coroner's assistants reported that some body-snatchers had been at work,
and had attempted to steal Mrs. Pattmore's body, having succeeded in
getting the coffin nearly out of the grave; but they had evidently been
interrupted, as they had left all their tools behind, and had not tried
to open the coffin. They had been more successful in another case,
however; the body of a woman had been taken from a grave in the Potter's
Field, (which was devoted to paupers, etc.) and had been carried to a
spot near Mrs. Pattmore's grave. The supposition was that the robbers,
wishing to procure female subjects for dissection, had chosen those two
graves as containing the bodies of persons who had most recently died.
On hearing this story, I saw through the trick at a glance. The sheriff
was in the office, and I beckoned to him to join me outside.
"Mr. Tomlinson," I said. "I wish you to send a man to the graveyard to
learn the name of the other woman, whose body was found; get a
description of her age, height, size, and general appearance, as I feel
sure that Pattmore's intention was, to substitute her body for that of
his wife."
"By Jupiter! that's so!" exclaimed Mr. Tomlinson; "but I should never
have thought of that. I will attend to your request myself, while you
can remain here to watch the proceedings before the coroner. I will go
to the cemetery and make a thorough investigation. It is my duty to
become acquainted with all the facts in the case," and he started off,
accompanied by Mr. Green, whom I sent with him.
In a short time, Pattmore walked into the office and sat down. He wore a
martyr-like expression, and, though he controlled his feelings
sufficiently to appear outwardly calm, I could see that, inwardly, he
was racked with fear and nervousness.
The coroner hastily impaneled a jury, consisting wholly of Pattmore's
personal and political friends. The coffin was then opened, as a matter
of form, and the jury merely looked at the rapidly decaying corpse.
Pattmore refused to look at the body, on the ground that he did not wish
to mar the sweet memories of his beloved wife's features, which he had
seen only in the flush of life and beauty, even by a glance at her
merely mortal remains in their present condition.
Dr. Forsythe testified that he had attended the late Mrs. Pattmore in
her last illness, and that dysentery was the cause of her death. He was
corroborated by another physician who had been in consultation with Dr.
Forsythe during the last day or two of the patient's life. As no other
witnesses were called, the jury immediately returned a verdict that
Mrs. Pattmore's death had resulted from natural causes; namely,
dysentery.
I was watching Pattmore closely during the interval before the verdict
was delivered, and I saw plainly that, in spite of the farcical
character of the inquest, he was in a state of nervous dread lest
something unforeseen should occur to reveal his criminality. When the
verdict was read, an expression of relief and triumph came into his
face, and he received the congratulations of his friends like a man who
had just escaped a great danger. I had too little evidence to warrant me
in showing my hand at that time, by accusing him in person;
nevertheless, I was satisfied of his guilt, and I decided to use other
means to bring him to justice.
In about an hour, Sheriff Tomlinson returned from the graveyard, with
Mr. Wells and Mr. Green. They had made notes of the condition in which
they had found Mrs. Pattmore's grave, and they had written out a full
description of the other corpse found near by. The body was that of a
woman of about the same size, age, and general appearance as Mrs.
Pattmore.
I had heard of an eminent physician in Greenville, named Dr. Stuart. On
inquiring for him, Mr. Tomlinson took me to the doctor's office and
introduced me. He was a man of great ability, and he had a high
reputation throughout the West as a scientific analytical chemist.
I at once laid the facts in the Pattmore case before him, and said that
I wished him to analyze carefully the contents of the stomach and bowels
of the late Mrs. Pattmore, in order to determine whether she had been
poisoned. I said that it was a difficult case to undertake, owing to
Pattmore's political influence; but I felt sure that a thorough
investigation would establish his guilt beyond question.
The Doctor replied that, under most circumstances, he should hardly feel
inclined to comply with such a request, since he had no right to make
such an analysis, unless he had the consent of the relatives of the
deceased; or, upon the coroner's order. Still, he had a natural desire
for fair play, and the facts which I had presented to him seemed to
point toward the possibility that a foul crime had been committed;
hence, he would perform the analysis, provided that his action should
never be made known to any one, until he should be called upon to
testify in court. Of course, if no trace of poison should be found, the
theory of death by that means would have to be abandoned, and his
connection with the affair need never be disclosed.
"I have never met you before, Mr. Pinkerton," concluded Dr. Stuart, "but
your reputation is well known to me, and I feel sure that you would not
have made this request unless there were strong reasons for such action.
I have full confidence in you, and I will give you all the aid in my
power. Where is Mrs. Pattmore's body now?"
"It is in the coroner's office," I replied, "and it will be taken back
to the grave in about an hour."
"Well, Mr. Pinkerton, can't you obtain possession of it in some way? I
shall only want it for a short time."
"That is what puzzles me," I replied; "I am afraid Pattmore will follow
the body to the grave."
"Then, if he should do so, can't you get two men who know how to handle
a shovel quickly, to disinter it a second time?" asked the Doctor.
"Yes; I will take two of my own men," I said; "I can trust them more
than any one else."
"Oh, nonsense!" exclaimed the Doctor, laughing, "you can do better than
that. You had better offer the regular grave-diggers ten dollars to
leave the body a short time in your possession before burying it; or, if
Pattmore should insist upon seeing it buried, they can easily disinter
it for you, and it will take me only a short time to remove the
intestines. I shall then seal them up for the present, as I am too busy
to make the analysis just now; but when I shall have finished my present
work, I will take up this case. You can depend upon hearing from me at
the earliest possible moment."
It was then arranged that Mr. Wells and sheriff Tomlinson should be
present to witness the removal of the bowels from Mrs. Pattmore's body;
the sheriff further decided to give an official order for the analysis,
so as to protect Dr. Stuart in case of any accident. If any signs of
poison were found, the Doctor's charges would be paid by the county;
otherwise I should be responsible for the amount. I then went out to see
the grave-diggers, and used such convincing arguments that they
willingly agreed to disinter the body. My arguments were brief, but
cogent, and were presented to them about in the following way:
"Mr. Grave-digger, you look like a man of discretion, who knows how to
open his hands and shut his mouth. I wish to obtain the body of the late
Mrs. Pattmore for a short time. I will give you several excellent
reasons why you will be willing to let me have it. In the first place,
I will give you twenty-five dollars for the job; secondly,----"
"Wa-al, I guess you needn't go any furder," drawled the grave-digger,
with a knowing wink; "twenty-five o' them reasons are enough for me; so
just tell me where you want the body, and I'll see that it's
forthcoming."
I have always found that half the argument may be dispensed with if the
matter is only _presented in the proper light_.
In accordance with the agreement, therefore, the body was again taken
from the grave in the presence of Mr. Wells, Sheriff Tomlinson, Dr.
Stuart, my detectives, and myself; the necessary parts were removed by
the Doctor, and the body was re-buried; finally, the Doctor placed the
portions which had been removed in a jar of alcohol, and it was then
sealed up to await the Doctor's analysis.
Of one thing I felt certain; and that was, that the regular
grave-diggers and the body-snatchers of the night before were the same
persons; hence, I feared that they might give Pattmore information of
our proceedings. I communicated my opinion to the Sheriff, and suggested
that a slight hint from him might induce the men to keep silence for
their own protection. Accordingly he spoke to them about the occurrence
of the previous night, and said that for the present he did not intend
to make any investigation to learn who were the body-snatchers on that
occasion.
"But," he added, significantly, "if I ever discover that Mr. Pattmore,
or any one else, has been informed of this action which I have just
taken, I shall consider it my duty as Sheriff, to bring to punishment
immediately the men who attempted to rob this grave last night--_and I
don't think I shall have any trouble in finding them_."
While returning to the city, I impressed upon Sheriff Tomlinson the
necessity of procuring all the evidence that could be reached relative
to Mrs. Pattmore's death. I asked him particularly to find the nurses
who attended her, and to learn all that they could tell about the
symptoms of the patient; the kind and amount of medicines administered;
the effect of the doses; and, in general, all the particulars of Mrs.
Pattmore's illness and death. The Sheriff promised to do all in his
power, and Mr. Wells also agreed to give his assistance in bringing out
the whole truth.
On arriving at the Globe Hotel I met Miller, who gave me a copy of a
letter which Pattmore had written to Mrs. Thayer, as soon as the
coroner's jury had given their verdict. The letter contained a brief
account of the inquest and the finding of the jury. It said that she
could understand his feelings of great relief that all had turned out so
well for him. The letter was signed, as in the former case, "Your loving
husband."