_ THE DETECTION
CHAPTER XXI
A Romantic Theory Dissipated.--
The Fair Clara becomes communicative.--
An Interview with the Barkeeper of "The Crescent Hotel." While these events were transpiring within the jail, I was actively engaged in the attempt to follow the clue in relation to the two suspicious individuals who had made their mysterious appearance at Stamford on the night of the murder of Henry Schulte.
It will be remembered that their actions attracted universal attention, and that, after inquiring for a train to New York, they had taken one going in a directly opposite direction.
Judicious inquiries soon brought my officers in personal contact with several parties who distinctly recollected the two strange persons above mentioned, and from their descriptions we were enabled to trace them to their places of residence.
It was ascertained that they were two respectable and peaceably-disposed Germans who resided at New Haven, and who had come to Stamford on that evening to attend a frolic at the house of a German farmer who lived near to that place. They had spent the evening in a jovial manner, and had left the house under the impression that by hastening their steps they would be in time to catch the train for their homes. They had consequently run the greater part of the distance to the station, which being nearly a mile away, accounted for their breathless condition upon reaching there. They had then inquired for a train
from New York, and not
to that city, and upon being informed that no further trains from that direction (as they understood it) would arrive that night, they had indulged in an extended personal altercation, each accusing the other of being the cause of their detention. When the train did arrive, contrary to their expectations, their ill feelings had not sufficiently subsided, and they sat sullen and apart upon their journey to their places of abode.
These facts, of course, dissipated the romantic theory that foreign emissaries had been employed by the relatives of the deceased to put him out of the way in order to secure his wealth; and so that glittering edifice of speculation fell to the ground.
I did not have much faith in this story from the outset, but it is a rule with me to follow every point in an investigation to a definite and satisfactory conclusion, and this line of inquiry was diligently pursued to the results mentioned. I therefore dismissed the matter from further consideration.
Operatives were also detailed to visit the Crescent Saloon, where the fair and voluptuous Clara presided and ministered to the bibulous appetites of her numerous friends and admirers.
They succeeded in making the acquaintance of the young lady, and by a liberal purchase of drinks, were successful in getting the fair but frail damsel in a communicative mood. She related her previous experience with Bucholz and confessed to entertaining at one time a decided regard for him, which regard was, however, not unmixed with fear. She also related several incidents, in which Bucholz, after having gone to South Norwalk, had visited the saloon and had been very lavish in spending his money.
"He was here," said the girl, "only a few days before the murder, and he drank a great deal. He appeared to have plenty of money, and spent more than fifty dollars here at one time. He seemed wild and excited, and talked about the old man in a manner that frightened me. When I heard about the murder from the young servant that used to work for Mr. Schulte, I could not help thinking that Bucholz had something to do with it. His eyes had a wild, wicked look when he spoke about the old man's money, and I felt sure that he was robbing him during his lifetime. When I heard that he was dead and had been murdered, I could not help it, but I thought at once that Bucholz had done it. I do not know why I thought so, but I could not get rid of that impression."
These statements, although furnishing no proofs of Bucholz's guilt, were of a character to convince me of the possibility of his having committed the murder. He had evidently been stealing from the old man before his death, and whether the murder had been committed to hide his previous robberies or to obtain possession of the great wealth which he carried about him, was the question I was resolved to determine.
A visit was also paid to the hotel where Bucholz had boarded and where he had met Mr. Schulte and engaged in his service. The cheery-faced landlord was very reticent upon the subject, and but little was learned from him. His barkeeper, however, was more disposed to talk, and it was ascertained that when Bucholz had left the hotel to enter the employ of Mr. Schulte he had left unpaid a bill for board which had been accumulating for some weeks, and that his trunk had been detained in consequence. After the murder he had visited the hotel in company with the officers who had him then in charge, and had paid his bill and taken his trunk away. The barkeeper shrugged his shoulders and declined to have anything to say when asked about any suspicious actions on the part of Bucholz during his residence in the house or since his engagement with Mr. Schulte.
From this person it was also discovered that a mail package, evidently containing some money, had been received at the hotel, addressed to William Bucholz. It purported to come from Germany, but an examination of the seals disclosed the fact that the package had been manufactured in the city, and that it had been designed to give color to the story of Bucholz's, of his having received money from his relatives who resided in Germany. There were, however, too many circumstances surrounding this package of a suspicious character to successfully deceive any one about its having come through the regular channels, or, in fact, having come from Germany at all. This package was the subject of discussion in the German paper, whose comments had produced such a marked effect upon the prisoner when he read it.
This information I was compelled to receive for what it was worth. The package had been delivered, and I could only depend upon the recollections of those who had seen it at the time. Their statements or opinions would certainly not be received as evidence, nor could they be used in any legal manner. They only served to strengthen my belief in William Bucholz's guilty participation in the murder, and determined me to pursue my present system of investigation vigorously and unremittingly to a successful conclusion. _