Читать книгу The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin - Henry M. Hunt - Страница 30

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Equally positive was the statement of William Dwyer, the conductor that had charge of car 415, and it convinced a good many people who had been inclined to the belief that Miss Murphy had been mistaken. Two weeks later, when the body of the murdered physician had been brought to light, Dwyer suddenly became an invalid, resigned his position and went to Canada "for his health." This fact gives additional significance to the circumstantial story that he told at the time.

"My regular run," he said, "is on the State Street horse line, but I was called up to the limits barn Saturday night to take the place of Conductor Humphrey who got suddenly sick. I was put aboard of car No. 415, one of the big, long ones. It was just 9:18 o'clock to a second when we left the barn. There was not a passenger aboard. When we reached Frederick Street a tall, good-looking man with a heavy mustache, and I think a plug hat, got on. I took particular notice of him, because he was a striking looking man."

"Where did he sit down?"

"In the middle of the car. He faced east."

"Did he have any parcels?"

"Yes. I remember that he carried a little box or case. I think it was black. It was made of highly polished wood."

"What did he do with it when he sat down?"

"Put it in his lap and leaned his arm on it."

"Did you notice how he was dressed?"

"No, not particularly, except that he was well dressed. I saw he had a kind of a round bundle in his lap, too. It was a queer color—a kind of light red or pink."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, because I noticed it particularly as I passed through the car. My attention was first attracted to it by a kind of white stuff that stuck out of the ends. It looked like white cotton, and when I passed through the car I brushed against it and a small particle of cotton clung to my coat."

"Do you think your solitary passenger was under the influence of liquor?"

"No, I don't. He walked straight and seemed to be sober. He was only abstracted and preoccupied. I noticed when we were passing the Windsor Theatre that he looked through the open windows of the car at the building with more interest than he had shown in anything else."

"How was it that you noticed him then?"

"Because he leaned forward as far as he could, and I guess I hadn't much else to look at just then."

"Did he get up as if he intended to leave the car?"

"No, he didn't; he kept his seat."

"How far did he ride?"

"To Madison Street. He started to get off at Washington Street, though. He had been more preoccupied than ever going through the tunnel, and when he got up at Washington Street he seemed kind of dazed. He asked me if we were at Madison Street, saying that he wanted to go to the Union Depot. I told him we were a block from Madison Street, and he returned to his seat. When we got to Madison I stopped the car and he jumped off. He started toward the river at a fast gait, as if he had an important appointment to keep."

"Do you know Dr. Cronin?"

"No, sir; I think not."

"Then you do not know, of your own knowledge, that your solitary passenger was Dr. Cronin?"

"No. But now that you speak of Dr. Cronin," he said after a long interval, "I remember that I thought he was a doctor, and I got an impression somehow from his grave aspect that he had been attending to a very serious case."

"Did you notice whether anybody was with him when he stepped out at Frederick Street to board your car?"

"I didn't notice, but I don't think there was."

"Did you see an undersized man with a heavy mustache and a slouch hat?"

"No; I didn't—but hold on a minute. I did see a man on the sidewalk, standing in the shadow of the building, who I think wore a soft hat, but as I had only a fleeting glimpse at him I couldn't attempt to describe him."

These two stories, the first so clear and direct, and the other so corroborative obtained general credence except among the immediate friends of the physician. These still insisted upon their theory of foul play. Numerous contradictions in the statements made by Dwyer to different people were pointed out. An inspection of the sheet upon which he had made out his report of the trip when he turned in his receipts showed that instead of one passenger on the nine o'clock car he had carried thirty-six. The story told by Miss Murphy was directly challenged, many of the physician's friends declared that it was manufactured for ulterior motives. It was also charged that her father and Dr. Cronin were bitter enemies. This was denied at the time, and it was added that Murphy, who resided on Oak Street near by Alexander Sullivan, had never taken an active part in Irish affairs. Subsequently, during the Coroner's investigation, it was developed that at that very time he was the financial secretary of a Clan-na-Gael camp hostile in its composition to the missing man.