_My Agency is Employed_--_The work of Detection begun._
The events attendant upon the investigation and the consequent
imprisonment of Bucholz had consumed much time. The new year had
dawned; January had passed away and the second month of the year had
nearly run its course before the circumstances heretofore narrated
had reached the position in which they now stood.
The ingenuity and resources of the officers at South Norwalk had been
fully exerted, and no result further than that already mentioned had
been achieved. The evidence against Bucholz, although circumstantially
telling against him, was not of sufficient weight or directness to
warrant a conviction upon the charge preferred against him. He had
employed eminent legal counsel, and their hopeful views of the case
had communicated themselves to the mercurial temperament of the
prisoner, and visions of a full and entire acquittal from the grave
charge under which he was laboring, thronged his brain.
The violence of his grief had abated; his despair had been dissipated
by the sunshine of a fondly-cherished hopefulness, and his manner
became cheerful and contented.
It was at this time that the services of my agency were called into
requisition, and the process of the detection of the real criminal
was begun.
Upon arriving at my agency in New York City one morning in the latter
part of February, Mr. George H. Bangs, my General Superintendent, was
waited upon by a representative of the German Consul-General, who was
the bearer of a letter from the Consulate, containing a short account
of the murder of Henry Schulte, and placing the matter fully in my
hands for the discovery of the following facts:
I. Who is the murderer?
II. Where is the money which is supposed to have been upon the person
of Henry Schulte at the time of his death?
Up to this time no information of the particulars of this case had
reached my agency, and, except for casual newspaper reports, nothing
was known of the affair, nor of the connection which the German
Consul had with the matter.
At the interview which followed, however, such information as was
known to that officer, who courteously communicated it, was obtained,
and my identification with the case began.
It became necessary at the outset that the support of the State's
Attorney should be secured, as without that nothing could be
successfully accomplished, and an interview was had with Mr.
Olmstead, which resulted in his entire and cordial indorsement of our
employment.
The difficulties in the way of successful operation beset us at the
commencement, and were apparent to the minds of all. The murder had
taken place two months prior to our receiving any information
concerning it, and many of the traces of the crime that might have
existed at the time of its occurrence, and would have been of
incalculable assistance to us, were at this late day no doubt
obliterated.
Undismayed, however, by the adverse circumstances with which it would
be necessary to contend, and with a determination to persevere until
success had crowned their efforts, the office was assumed and the
work commenced.
Mr. Bangs and my son, Robert A. Pinkerton, who is in charge of my New
York agency, procured another interview with Mr. Olmstead, and
received from him all the information which he then possessed.
Mr. Olmstead continued firm in his belief that the crime had been
committed by Bucholz, and being a man of stern inflexibility of mind,
and of a determined disposition, he was resolved that justice should
be done and the guilty parties brought to punishment.
Declining to offer any opinion upon the subject until the matter had
been fully investigated in the thorough manner which always
characterizes my operations, it was decided to send a trusted and
experienced operative to the scene of the murder, to obtain from all
persons who possessed any knowledge of the affair every item of
information that it was possible at that late day to secure.
Accordingly, John Woodford, an intelligent and active man upon my
force, was detailed to the scene of operations with full authority to
glean from the already well-harvested field whatever material was
possible, and from his reports the particulars as detailed in the
preceding chapters were obtained. The inquiries were made in the most
thorough manner, and at the end of his labors every item of
information connected with the matter was in our possession and the
foundation was laid for a system of detection that promised success.
The particulars of the case were communicated to me at my
headquarters in Chicago, and I was resolved also to learn the
antecedents of John Henry Schulte and his servant, in order to
unravel the mystery which attended his appearance at South Norwalk,
and to discover the relations which existed between the master and
the man who now stood charged with a foul crime.
That this eccentric man, possessed of such large means, should thus
have taken up his abode in a land of strangers, and should have lived
the secluded life he did, was an added mystery in the case, which I
resolved to become acquainted with. I considered this necessary,
also, in order to discover some motive for the crime, if any existed
except that of robbery, and to guide me in my dealings with any
suspected persons who might thereafter be found.
His brother was communicated with, and another operative was detailed
to gather up the history of the man from the time of his landing in
America.
John Cornwell, a young operative in the service of my New York
agency, was delegated for this service, and he performed the duty
assigned him in a manner which furnished me with all the information
I desired to possess, and as the story contains much that is of
interest, I will give it here.
THE HISTORY.