Читать книгу The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin - Henry M. Hunt - Страница 9

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Captain Villiers had not yet heard of the disappearance of Dr. Cronin. He was quickly satisfied, however, that a diabolical murder had been committed and at once issued orders to his subordinates to institute a thorough search for the body, which he believed to be somewhere in the neighborhood of the spot where the trunk was found. A patrol wagon filled with officers was out the entire afternoon. The men searched all the brush, prairie and vacant houses for a mile around, but could find no trace of the corpse. So many persons had trampled the grass at the spot where the trunk was found that the officers could not discover tracks of any vehicle. Evanston Avenue is so well paved that search along this much travelled highway would have been useless. The officers scoured the grass, examined the fences and went even so far as to invade the cemeteries. Not a drop of blood nor a particle of cotton could be found anywhere. Three boards of a fence were down at Argyle Street, but there was no evidence that they had been removed for the purpose of assisting men in the removal of a body. Efforts were made to find the men who first discovered the trunk but without result. One man that drove along the Evanston road an hour ahead of Alderman Chapman was positive that it was not there at that time, while on the other hand the alderman insisted that there were men at the spot for some time before he happened along in his buggy.

It was six o'clock on Sunday evening when Officers Smith and Hayden entered the station to report for their night's work. The instant Smith entered the Captain's private room he declared that the bloody trunk lying before him was the one he had seen in the carpenter's wagon when he stood with his brother-officer at Clark and Diversey Streets in the early morning.

Officer Hayden, when called in, was equally positive. At this moment the news of Dr. Cronin's disappearance was received, and Captain Villiers became intensely excited. The report that Dr. Cronin was missing under the most alarming circumstances and the gory evidences of a murder lying before him seemed to inspire the Captain with the belief that perhaps the mystery surrounding the well-known doctor's disappearance had been solved. He at once issued orders for a search for the mysterious wagon and its occupants. He hurriedly drove over to O'Sullivan's and put the ice man through a sharp examination. The latter, however, stuck to the story he had told earlier in the day. He knew nothing but what he had been told, he said; and his manner was so earnest, and his distress of mind—to outward appearances—so intense, that the official took him at his word.