THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF Pearl Bryan, OR: THE HEADLESS HORROR.

A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER KNOWN AS THE Fort Thomas Tragedy, FROM BEGINNING TO END.

Full Particulars of all Detective and Police Investigations.

Dialogues of the Interviews between Mayor Caldwell, Chief Deitsch and the Prisoners.

Copyright by BARCLAY & CO.



Illustration: PEARL BRYAN. Engraved after the only Photograph that she ever had taken during her life-time.



THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF PEARL BRYAN, OR: THE HEADLESS HORROR

Fort Thomas, Kentucky, is most beautifully located near the banks of the Ohio river, on the Highlands, just above and on the opposite side from Cincinnati, Ohio. Although a comparatively new U. S. Military Post, it has long been a historical point, and in the early days of the Corncracker State, and while yet a portion of the County of Kentucky in the State of Virginia, was the home of the red men. There are persons yet living whose parents fought bloody battles with the Indians on the ground now occupied as a U. S. Fort, and that adjacent thereto; a picturesque portion of which is the scene of this true narrative of one of the most terrible tragedies of the nineteenth Century.

The tragedy referred to was committed at the dead of night in a lonely spot near the Fort, January 31st, 1896.

By the manner in which it was committed, it re-called the days of old, when tyrants beheaded their victims, and the murderer at heart, who was yet too cowardly to commit the deed, hired some one to do it, requiring in evidence that the deed had been done, that the head should be severed from the body and returned to the employer.

To re-call such deeds of horror to the minds of the people of a highly civilized nation at the close of the nineteenth Century by the actual commission of a similar deed, struck horror to the hearts of the people, and they were worked up to a pitch that had never been witnessed in this country before. Telephones and telegraph were called into service, and the finding of the headless body of a young and doubtless beautiful woman in a sequestered spot near Fort Thomas, was flashed around the world. So shocked was the country over this ghastly find that the metropolitan papers from one end of this country to the other informed their representatives in the Queen City to wire full particulars of the horrible deed, without any limit to the words to be used.

It was the most diabolical cold-blooded premediated outrage ever committed in a civilized community. The entire surrounding country, including the three cities, Cincinnati, O., Covington and Newport, Ky., were startled from center to circumference and aroused as it never had been before. The Sixth Regiment U. S. Infantry, commanded by Col. Cochran, which is stationed at Fort Thomas, was astounded that such an outrage should be committed almost within the guard lines of the Fort. Aged and battle-scarred veterans who had gone through the great civil war, only a generation before, when brother stood in battle array against brother, father against son, neighbor against neighbor, flocked to the spot where the headless body lay, and stood with blanched faces, struck dumb with amazement, at the boldness of the deed and horrible manner in which it had been committed.

In an old orchard in the confines proper of the Fort, about midway between the Highland and Alexandria pikes, on the farm of James Lock, and near the fence which acts as a boundary line for Mr. Lock's farm, was found by James Hewling, a young man, on Saturday morning, Feb. 1., 1896, the decapitated body of a young woman of venus-like form, the headless body lying with the neck in a pool of blood.

From the position of the body it was evident that the woman had been thrown down violently and then her head deliberately severed with a dull knife. The severance was made below the fifth vertebra. Judging by the pool of blood, life had been extinct from four to eight hours when the body was found.

The clothing of the woman was of poor quality. The dress was light blue and white, small pattern check, of cotton, worn tight across the back and loose in front. She also wore a dark blue skirt and a union suit of underwear. On her hands was a pair of tan kid gloves, well worn. The black, cloth-topped shoes were of fine quality, in contrast to the other clothing, and were marked within "Louis & Hays, Greencastle, Ind., 22-11. 62,458." Her stockings were black and blue, new. The rubbers were old and worn at the heels. The corset had evidently been ripped open and torn from her body during a struggle which took place near where it was found. Close by was a piece of the dress, also with blood on it.

In an almost incredible short time after Hewling gave the alarm, the soldiers from the Fort, the citizens surrounding it, and hundreds from the city near-by gathered at the spot and were awe stricken by the sight which met their eyes.

Who was the murdered woman and who could have committed the horrible atrocity? These were questions which were on the lips of every one, and for the answer of which a most thorough and searching investigation was at once begun. The best detective talent was immediately put to work. The people were thoroughly aroused and determined upon having the headless body identified and the cruel, heartless murderer or murderers brought to swift justice.

Leaving the investigation of the deed, we will now go with the reader to a happy home of a happy family, ranking among the oldest and best connected families in the state of Indiana, and living on the father's farm near Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana. Alexander S. Bryan, and his wife who had lived to honorable old age, respected and loved by all who knew them, owned this happy home and were the parents of twelve children, of which at the time of this writing, seven were living, Pearl being the youngest, of a fine, voluptuous form, with a sweet, lovely disposition and manners, popular with all who were acquainted with her, cheerful and happy at all times and was first entering her twenty-second year. The Bryan family, taking all the relations into account, is the largest in the state of Indiana, and its standing of the very highest.

Pearl the baby of the family, petted and feted, had graduated from the Greencastle High School in 1892, with the highest honors and was the special favorite of her graduating class. Beautiful in form and features, highly accomplished, well educated, with a doting father and mother, well provided with this world's goods, and with whom she was a favorite daughter, Pearl Bryan had much to live for.

From the time she left school, aye, even before her graduating year arrived, she had many admirers, and to look on her was to love, to love was to lose. She counted her admirers by the score, but to none did she give her heart, or encourage them in any serious intentions. She was liked by all, but while she was of a lovable, affectionate disposition, she allowed none to go beyond the line of admiration, and cupid's swift and seldom erring shafts, fell harmless by her side.

Three long years had passed since Pearl had bade "good bye" to her studies in the Greencastle High School, and although a leader in society, a guest of honor where-ever she visited, none of her ardent admirers had made a deeper impression upon her, and her heart was still her own. Men of high moral character, well supplied with this world's goods and standing well in business and social circles, would have eagerly jumped at the opportunity to claim her as their wife. Their protestations of love however seemed to have no affect upon the mind or heart of Miss Pearl Bryan.

Money and position did not have any effect upon her favors, the young man, struggling hard to make his way in life, was as graciously received and as well treated by her as the young swell, rolling in luxury and wealth.

Will Wood, a second cousin of Pearl Bryan, was one of her ardent admirers, but was treated as one of the family and in no sense as a lover. He was treated rather as a favorite brother by Miss Pearl, who made a confidant of him. Wood's father who was a good old Minister lived only a half mile distant from the Bryan's, and Will spent much of his time at Pearl's home, and was in her company a great deal. Nothing was thought of this, at the time, although evil tongues wagged rapidly afterwards, and many were ready to lay at the door of Will Wood in less than a year thereafter, direct connection and complicity with a crime unparallelled in the criminal history of the Nineteenth Century.

Along in the latter part of 1894, Scott Jackson with his mother moved to Greencastle, Ind., from Jersey City, N. J. One of Mrs. Jackson's daughters, the wife of Dr. Edwin Post, of Depauw University, had lived at Greencastle for many years, and Mrs. Jackson moved there to get near her daughter. Scott Jackson belonged to a good family, his father being Commodore Jackson, who commanded many vessels and who stood high in social circles in New Jersey. Scott cut quite a prominent figure in both the social and business world. He went to Jersey City with splendid recommendations. His career there was considerably checkered however, and he only escaped a long sentence to the penitentiary, which his partner Alexander Letts is now serving, by turning State's evidence in a case of embezzlement in which Jackson and Letts had embezzled a large amount, said to have been $32,000 from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.

Jackson and Letts, it appears, obtained employment of the Pennsylvania Railroad company, in the Jersey City offices. One of Jackson's duties was to receive and open the mails.

BIG EMBEZZLEMENTS.

After a few months extensive robberies in the railroad office were discovered. They were said to amount to nearly $32,000. They were traced to Jackson and Letts. It was found, according to testimony during the two trials that followed, that Jackson abstracted checks from the mail, and that Letts, to whom he handed them, had them cashed.

Meanwhile the saloon which they kept had become notorious. They were acknowledged high flyers in sporting circles. Both had become "plungers" on the race tracks. It was reported that they made much money, owing to their lavish expenditures. They "entertained" liberally in their own particular way, and for a time were looked upon as "good fellows" among the sporting fraternity, who sought the privilege of their acquaintance. Jackson was a prominent member of the Entre Nous, an exclusive social club.

Suddenly, the Pennsylvania Railroad officials discovered that these two young men were "sporting" at the expense of the company. Their arrest followed. At the first trial the jury disagreed.

HE TURNED STATE'S EVIDENCE.

Before the second trial took place the railroad company discovered such proof of Jackson's guilt that he found it healthy to turn state's evidence against Letts. The latter was sentenced to a long term in the State Prison. Jackson went free and also went away from Jersey.

News of this escapade and his career in Jersey City never reached Greencastle and his family there ranking among the best. He was at once given an entree into society which might well be envied by any young man. Will Wood, who lived a near neighbor to Mrs. Jackson, and who as stated was a particular favorite with Pearl Bryan, took a great liking to Scott Jackson. They were very intimate, in fact became chums.

Jackson entered the dental college at Indianapolis, and Wood being of a rather reckless disposition would go to Indianapolis to see Jackson, and together they would have a big time in the city. Both being fond of ladies' company, they spent much of their time together in the company of women of loose moral character and were in several very unsavory escapades, escaping notoriety however under assumed names, which prevented their families and friends at Greencastle from hearing of them. With no knowledge of his former career and ignorant of his escapades while at college at Indianapolis, it is no wonder that he was a favorite in society when at home. Belonging to an exellent family, he was outwardly a man whom any father would be proud to have his daughter associate with. With dimples on his chin and cheeks, a childish smile on his lips, frank, beautiful, pale violet-blue eyes, he had a most winsome countenance. But behind the angelic front was hidden a very demon. Jackson was a monstrosity if you will, a whited sepulchre, and one of the unaccountable freaks of nature. To those not knowing his habits, a handsome, affable, pleasing man of fine form and features; to those who knew him truly, a villain of the deepest dye, a very demon in human shape.

Illustration: The Home of Pearl Bryan at Greencastle, Ind.—Drawn by our special Artist.

Notwithstanding Will Wood knew him as he did, and that Pearl Bryan was Wood's second cousin the same blood coursing through their veins, Wood introduced Jackson into the Bryan family in the spring of 1895. It was a case of love at first sight. From the first meeting between Scott Jackson and Pearl Bryan, at the colonial mansion of the Bryans on the hill, Pearl showed that she was most favorably impressed with him. She who had refused to listen to the wooing whispers of men in high rank and station in life by the scores, fell at once a victim to the darts from cupid's shafts sent from Jackson's lips, for after occurrences proved conclusively that the honeyed words and winsome smiles, which won their way so easily into the heart of Pearl Bryan, came only from the lips and never from the heart of him who lent his every effort to win the heart of the belle of Putnam County, as Pearl Bryan was known, but with no manly or honorable purpose. Scott Jackson was void of moral principle and honor, and never did anything with a manly purpose, he was incapable of such action.

THE RESULT OF AN EXAMINATION OF JACKSON, BY THE BERTILLION SYSTEM, AFTER HIS ARREST FOR THE MURDER OF PEARL BRYAN.

After the arrest of Jackson for the crime, he was turned over to Sergeant Kiffmeyer, of the Cincinnati police force, who has charge of the Bertillion system of measuring and identifying criminals for the local Police Department, and who is recognized as an authority on criminals.

After he had completed the measurement of Jackson he said, "Every man's head tells its own story. Jackson is another H. H. Holmes.

"Jackson has the cunning to plot and plan, and to conceal.

"Jackson is a mind far beyond the ordinary. He has a head such as Napoleon would have.

PICKED OUT OF A THOUSAND.

"Jackson knew fully and realized what lay before him in the murder of Pearl Bryan.

"Jackson is absolutely incapable of any expression of remorse.

"The only appeal that can be made to Jackson is through his fear of punishment.

"Jackson's skull is abnormal, and unusually long in proportion to its breadth. It is abnormally developed on the right side in front and on the left side in the rear of the head.

"Jackson is a natural monster, or monstrosity, which ever you will. Look at his portrait," and the Sergeant held up his photograph. "Is that the face of a criminal?

"Jackson has other peculiarities. His fingers are disproportionately long to his height.

"Jackson has all the characteristics of a criminal by nature."

WAS IT FATE OR WAS IT DESTINE?

Was it cruel fate which led pure, beautiful, innocent and attractive Pearl Bryan into the toils of such a fiend in human shape? Or was it the blind Goddess of Justice that led Jackson to meet Miss Pearl and sacrifice her life that the demon Jackson might be exposed to the world, his deeds of evil and misdoings brought to light, and he expatiate the many crimes which he had committed on the gallows or by serving a life sentence in the penitentiary?

Be that as it may they met through the intimate acquaintance and friendship of each with Will Wood, who little thought when he brought this pure spotless virgin in contact with the hypocrite and demon, Jackson, that he was committing a sin, which he would regret to his dying day, and which would bring disgrace, dishonor and ruin on two highly respected families and also upon his own head and that of his aged respected and christian father, who was at the time the Presiding Elder of a church for the Greencastle District.

The acquaintance of Jackson and Miss Pearl soon ripened into friendship and that friendship into trusting confiding love on the Part of Miss Bryan, and the accomplishment of the deep, villainous designs upon the part of Jackson. As Will Wood said in a talk afterward, "Pearl was stuck on Jackson from the first time they met, Jackson would come and get my horse and buggy and drive over to Pearl's house, when they would often go out driving together. Pearl was pretty and ambitious, but I never thought she would do wrong. Now I can see she was perfectly infatuated with Jackson from the start; so much that I am firmly convinced, she was completely in his power, and he took advantage of his influence over her." Through Jackson's cunning to plot and plan as well as to conceal, the relations of criminal intimacy between him and Pearl, were never even suspected by anyone. Jackson was not in Greencastle a great deal, and this fact enabled him to carry on his illicit relations with her more boldly than he would otherwise have been able to do. The parents of the erring girl never for a moment suspected anything wrong. Pearl was their favorite, the daughter of their old age, had been raised with every care and precaution, had always moved in the very best of society, and Jackson to them was a gentleman, a member of one of the best families of the country, well-thought of and respected in the community in which they moved, and was not looked upon as a lover, although they were aware of the fact that Pearl was more seriously smitten with his charms than she ever had been with those of any of the other many admirers and friends who had visited their home as the company of Pearl. Without hesitancy they permitted their favorite daughter to accept the attentions of Jackson, go out with him when he was visiting home, and remain alone with him in their parlor until late hours in the night. They had every confidence in Pearl, and no suspicion of the villainous intentions of Jackson, or the evil influence he possessed over her.

With Pearl Bryan, it was the oft told tale, "She loved not wisely but too well." Jackson, "a criminal by nature" with his "angelic front", behind which was hidden a demon, with his low moral character, so well concealed from the public, and with a set design to ruin the pure and innocent girl, which had been thrown in his way, was not slow to take advantage of his opportunities and the influence and power, which he could easily see he held over the unsuspecting girl.

Loving and trusting Jackson as she had never before loved any man, and being of a sanguine nervous temperament, with her likes and dislikes of the strongest possible, with a great deal of animal nature, cheerful and talkative, yet lacking in force, by nature kind and benevolent to a fault, and her development of individuality and self-reliance small, she was one who could be easily persuaded but never driven. Jackson was not slow to learn this, and with honeyed words and protestations of love, he won Pearl Bryan's heart. This won, the accomplishment of his devilish designs, her ruin, was easy. She fell a victim to his lustful desire, and in a short time discovered that she would soon become a mother. Almost crazed at this discovery she knew not what to do or which way to turn. It was the first blot that had ever come on the name of a member of the proud Bryan family. In her desperation she confided her condition to her cousin, Will Wood. As Wood claimed, no one else in Greencastle knew or even suspected anything of the true condition of affairs between Pearl Bryan and Scott Jackson. They had been keeping company with each other whenever Jackson was in Greencastle, from the early spring of 1895 until September of the same year, when she discovered her condition, no one except Will Wood knowing anything wrong about them.

The discovery of Pearl Bryan that she was in a delicate condition, and Jackson being the cause of her trouble, and as he said in a letter to Wood wishing to get clear of the scandal, brings us to the third, and possibly the most important suspect in the dreadful tragedy near Fort Thomas, Ky.

Alonzo Walling, nineteen years of age, was born on a farm near Mt. Carmel, Ind. His father died when he was but three years old, leaving his mother in moderate circumstances with two other boys, Clint and Charles. When Alonzo was thirteen she moved to Greencastle where she kept boarders and Alonzo commenced at once to work in a glass factory to help support his mother. He worked there four years, and was thrown out of work when the factory was closed. Then his mother, by self-sacrifice, sent him to the Indianapolis Dental college, paying all his expenses, and it is learned that he worked hard and was one of the formost in his class. He returned home every evening, and on Saturdays assisted Dr. Sparks, at Greenfield, in his dental parlors. His term expired in March, 1895, when his mother moved to Oxford and made her home with her sister, Mrs. James Faucett. Having very poor health, her only thought was to try and give him a good education.

It was at the Indianapolis Dental College that he first met Jackson and became acquainted with him. By some strange and uncontrollable fatallity Walling was thrown with Jackson again in Cincinnati. Here is his own statement made Wednesday, Feb. 5., 1896, regarding their acquaintance and friendship:

"I met Jackson in Indianapolis, a little more than a year ago. We attended the Indiana Dental College together. I did not know him intimately there, although we attended the same class. When the school season was over, I had no idea of meeting him again here in Cincinnati."

"How did you come to room together here?"

"Well, I was standing on the doorstep of our boarding-house, at 222 West Ninth Street, the second day of our school term here in October, when Scott came along Ninth Street and recognized me. On the strength of our being acquainted in Indianapolis we roomed together at 222 Ninth Street and took our meals out."

Walling had no unsavory record, although he did not stand well at Greenfield, while living there. That he was directly connected with the Fort Thomas tragedy there can be no doubt. Sergeant Kiffmeyer, who has charge of the Bertillion System, and who is quoted regarding Scott Jackson, said of Alonzo Walling, after taking his measurement. "Walling's head is that of a commonplace criminal, he is just the opposite of Scott Jackson, at the same time Walling is utterly void of any ability or cunning to plot and plan and to conceal. Jackson knew fully and realized what lay before him in the murder of Pearl Bryan. Walling had not realized the enormity of the crime, and is supremely indifferent to the consequences and to the crime committed. No appeal, not even the fear of punishment, will have any impression on Walling."



The History of the Tragedy.

Never in the history of the crimes committed in this section of the country has the same interest or the same deep feeling been aroused as has been in the Ft. Thomas (Ky.) murder.

The fact that the head was removed from the body and secreted or destroyed, and the developments which followed fast upon each other, adding day by day new evidence to show the cold-bloodedness of the crime, the preparations which had been made for its successful carrying out and the covering up of all traces of the identity of the murderer and the murdered. The mystery that still surrounds the hiding place of the dismembered head, have led to this result.

A murder so horrible and revolting as to appear to place it beyond the civilization of to-day, had been committed within ear shot of one of the most popular U. S. Military Posts of this country, and within a few miles of the center of population of this the greatest and most highly civilized nation on earth. The murderer had hacked the head from the body of his victim, and carried it away with him. Whether from pure savagory and demon spirit or to prevent the identification of his victim was not known.

The body was found in an orchard at Ft. Thomas on Saturday, February 1., at 8 o'clock in the morning. The neck, where it had been severed from the body, lay in a pool of blood, and from evidences on the body and in the bush under which it lay, a fierce struggle had taken place before the victim received her death stroke.

BUT SLIGHT CLEW TO WORK ON.

Upon the body or in the clothing there was nothing by which the woman could be identified, excepting the dealers' names in the shoe, and the murder or murderers had left no other clew behind by which they could be identified. Without the head, the mystery seemed unsolvable, and every effort was made to find it in the vicinity.

The remaining details of the crime, as far as circumstantial evidence revealed them, told a story which was truly horrifying. The dumb evidence given by foot prints, blood-stains, broken tree branches, was terrible to reflect upon.

The body was lying upon the bank with the feet higher than the body, and the clothing so disarranged that the officers were at first led to believe that the woman had been outraged before she was murdered. The clothing could easily have been as much disarranged in the struggle which had evidently taken place and when the murderer threw his victim to the ground.

The upper part of the woman's dress was open as was the garment beneath, and her bosom was bare. The skirt-band was unloosed, and the skirt of the dress was gathered up about the waist. Beneath the stump of the neck there was a huge pool of blood, and blood was scattered about on the grass and the leaves of the overhanging bushes. One glove lay in the bushes and a piece torn from the woman's dress was hanging to a bit of brushwood several yards from the body. The officers carefully examined the footprints leading to the spot where the body lay, and they found that the man and the woman had walked side by side for a short distance when, for some reason, the woman had attempted to flee and the man had followed and overtaken her. The tracks were especially distinct here, for the woman had run through a very muddy spot, which she would have avoided had she had time to pick her way. The murderer overtook his victim before she had screamed more than once or twice. He choked her into silence and dragged her toward the bushy bank. She struggled desperately, and he tore a handful of cloth from her dress. He threw her to the ground and slid over the bank with her. He must have drawn his knife after the struggle began; otherwise he would have used it sooner. He slashed at her throat. She clutched the knife with the one hand she had free—her left—and three times the blade laid her palm or fingers open to the bone. Her struggle was useless, and in a moment her life blood was pouring from a gaping wound in her throat.

When she was dead, or, at least, powerless to resist, the assassin searched for some article concealed on her person. He tore off her corset, leaving the marks of his bloody fingers on the garment, which he threw a yard or two from him, and then unbuttoned the under garment beneath her corset, where a letter might have been concealed. Whether he found something which aroused him to jealous rage, or whether he finished his awful work in the hope of concealing the identity of his victim, no one knows.

The murder must have been committed Friday night for the clothing of the dead woman was not wet and the rain Friday night had kept up until near ten o'clock.

The struggle between the murderer and his victim was a most desperate one. Half of a man's shirt sleeve was found near the dead body, soaked in blood. The woman had evidently torn it from her murderers arm in her desperate struggle for her life.

The lad Hewling upon discovering the body of the murdered woman, was horror stricken by the sight and ran towards Mr. Lock's house, badly frightened and calling lustily for help. Mr. Lock, his son Wilbert and Mike Noonan, an employ, came running from the house. When they had seen the body, Mr. Lock went direct to Fort Thomas, telephoned the news of the ghastly find to the Newport police headquarters, and notified Col. Cochran the Commander at the Fort.

Jule Plummer, Sheriff of Campbell County, Kentucky, Coroner Tingley and a number of the other County and City officials respondet the telephone summons at once and hurried to the scene. The body had not been touched nor had any one been in touching distance of it when these officers arrived and viewed it.

The body was ordered to be taken to undertaker W. H. Whites in Newport, by Coroner Tingley, at once after he had examined it. Upon this examination he said that there was no evidence whatever that the woman's person had been outraged.

The work of identifying the victim and running down her murderers was at once begun. The entire detective and police force of Cincinnati, Covington and Newport, was put to work to unravel the mystery, identify the remains and capture her murderers.

There was little or no clew to work on. Detectives Crim and McDermott, of Cincinnati, were assigned to work actively on the case, and sent to the scene at once by Col. Philip Deitsch, Superintendent of Police of Cincinnati. Before these sleuth-hounds of the law, Crim and McDermott, reached the place where the headless body had been found, hundreds of persons from the three cities, and every soldier stationed at Fort Thomas, who could possibly get away, had preceded them. The grass and bushes were trampled down by the crowds of visitors who had come to satisfy their curiosity, but who, through their eagerness to see and learn everything possible, had destroyed so nearly every particle of evidence the murderer had left behind him. The foot prints and other evidences of the desperate struggle were all destroyed and but little was left for them to work on.

Relic hunters were out in great numbers and they almost demolished the bush under which the body was discovered, breaking off branches upon which blood spots could be seen. They peered closely into the ground for blood-spotted leaves, stones and even saturated clay. Anything that had a blood stain upon it was seized upon eagerly, and hairs of the unfortunate woman were at a premium, men and boys, and even young women, examining every branch and twig of the bush in the midst of which the struggle took place, in the hope of finding one. The inherent, morbid love of the horrible the mass of humanity possesses was well illustrated in the scenes witnessed. The heavy rain which fell nearly all afternoon was not deterrent to these relic hunters' zeal.

AT THE UNDERTAKER.

The scene at Undertaker White's establishment, on Fourth Street, in Newport, where the body was taken to, was one of activity. All day long and up to a late hour at night the place was besieged with people anxious to get a look at the remains of the unfortunate woman. The crowd was composed mostly of men, but there was quite a number of women to be seen among them. Several persons came in and gave descriptions of missing friends, and, if they tallied in any way with the corpse, they were permitted to view it.

Owing to the close proximity to Fort Thomas, where the body was found, and the well-known fact that a number of the "women on the town" in Cincinnati were in the habit of visiting the soldiers at the Fort, many suspected that some one of the soldiers had committed the crime, and as the clothes on the body were of the cheapest kind, they thought the victim was one of these lowe women. Col. Cochran, the commander of the Fort, would not allow such a stigma to rest upon his post. He instituted a most thorough investigation, and invited the civil officials to aid him in his investigation. It did not take long to convince those working on the case that the soldiers were in no way involved in the terrible tragedy.

On Saturday night, not many hours after the discovery of the headless body, Arthur Carter, of Seymour Ind., arrived with his trio of famous bloodhounds, Jack, Wheeler and Stonewall.

The hounds are the same animals that tracked Bud Stone, the colored murderer of the Wratten family, at Washington, Ind., to his home. Stone was later arrested, and when charged with the crime made a full confession, for which he was afterward hanged.

Mr. Carter said during his brief stop at the Grand Central Depot that over 20 criminals are now serving time in the penitentiaries of Indiana and Illinois as a result of the work of the hounds.

Before being taken to the scene of the murder the dogs were taken to White's undertaking establishment and given a scent of the unfortunate woman's clothing. Carter expressed a doubt as to the dogs ability to do any work in striking a trail by the scent from the clothing, as it had been freely handled by a half hundred of persons. The dogs, with noses close to the ground, ran hither and thither in a confused manner. It was evident that the dogs were useless, as all tracks left by the murderer and his victim had been obliterated by the thousands of people who had crossed over the place where the body was found.

DRAINING THE RESERVOIR.

They followed the scent as far as the Covington reservoir, when they lost it, and were unable to gain it again. In the hope that the head might be found in this body of water the reservoir was drained on Monday, involving an expense of about $2,000, but the head was not discovered, and the hard-working, earnest detectives and Sheriff Plummer were apparently baffled.

Clew after clew was followed up only to be abandoned as fruitless. A large number of young women were reported missing from various parts of the country, but when traced up and pursued to its end, each clew proved to be without any tangible basis. There was nothing to work on, but the officers of the law, kept up the search for the head and the identification of the remains with most commandable persistency. Every Suggestion was received and considered, nothing was left undone that could be done.

THE SHOES.

The authorities then turned their attention to the only tangible clew, the shoes. Sheriff Plummer, of Campbell County, accompanied by Detectives Crim and McDermott, of this city, proceeded on Monday night to Greencastle, Ind., to interview the dealers from whom the shoes had evidently been purchased. They also took along the dead girls clothing. At the store of Louis & Hayes it was found that the entire lot of shoes, one dozen pairs, had been purchased by them from Portsmouth. Nine of these pairs had been sold, and all but two purchasers were readily accounted for. Then an attempt was made to locate these two pairs, one of which had, without doubt, been worn by the murdered girl. This seemed impossible for a time. In the meanwhile every girl who had left the Depauw Seminary, near Greencastle, was traced down, and found each time.

In the meantime every thing possible was being done at the scene of the murder. Two tramps were arrested at Ludlow, Ky., as suspects, but were afterwards released for lack of evidence. Crowds flocked to the morgue in Newport, where the headless body lay; it being identified a number of times as the body of some one who after the identification would turn out to be alive and well.

Probably the strongest case of identification, which did not identify, was that of Mrs. Hart, of Cincinnati, who identified the remains as those of her daughter, Ella Markland. Emil Eshler, a friend of Mrs. Hart, and William Hess, a saloon-keeper, both thought it was the body of Mrs. Markland, and were so strongly convinced of it, that they told the mother of their opinion. She and her husband then went to Newport, where she made a very careful examination, which resulted in her declaring that beyond a reasonable doubt the body was that of her daughter. The woman called at the Cincinnati headquarters and in a long talk with Chief Deitsch declared that she was fully convinced the body was that of Ella Markland. Her story of the identification was told at considerable length and between many sobs.

She said she had been allowed to thoroughly examine the body at Newport and that she identified it by the peculiar shape of the legs from the knee down and by the general contour of the breast, waist and limbs. In talking to the chief she was asked when she had last seen her daughter and replied that it was New Year's Eve that she last saw her alive. Mrs. Markland was afterwards found on Ninth Street in Cincinnati, where she was working as a domestic.

Without question the most sensational clew upon which the detectives had to work, was the unearthing of a true life story, in which passion and crime were involved, and which for days promised to bear fruit of a most sensational character.

This clew was, that the headless body, was that of Francisca Engelhardt, who had not long ago been married to a Dr. Kettner, who deserted his first wife in Dakota, and whom she had never seen until he came to Cincinnati, to marry her, the acquaintance and engagement having been made through a correspondence advertisement in a Cincinnati newspaper. The pair were married by Squire Winkler, the girl never knowing that her husband was a bigamist.

Three months afterward the first wife, at Mitchell, S. D., heard that her husband had married a woman in Cincinnati. She wrote but received no answer, then came on to Cincinnati, and on finding that the report of her husband being again married was true, she sued for divorce.

FLED TO LOUISVILLE.

Meanwhile Kettner fled to Louisville with his second wife, then to points in Indiana, where he was located from time to time. When his first wife sued for divorce he was traced to Batesville, Ind. He never replied to her petition for divorce, and she would have won her suit had she not been forced to abandon it on account of lack of money. She was determined, however, to prosecute him for bigamy.

Mrs. Anna Burkhardt, of No. 1317 Vine Street, with whom the Engelhardt girl had boarded, called at the Cincinnati police headquarters and told her story. She furnished Chief Deitsch and Mayor Caldwell with pictures of both Kettner and Francisca Engelhardt.

The whole story at once impressed itself so fully upon both the Mayor and Chief Deitsch that work was immediately begun. Telegrams of a private nature were sent to points in Indiana and the West. One from Evansville states that Kettner and his second wife left that town for parts unknown about a month before. He was then traced through various cities and towns until on the same day on which the arrest of Jackson and Walling was made. In response to telegrams from Greencastle, Ind., Dr. Kettner and wife, were located at Marquette Mich., he having had a shady record, at every point he had been traced to. Superintendent of Police Deitsch and Mayor Caldwell, of Cincinnati, considered this the best clew on which the detectives could work.

As soon as the intelligence was imparted to Chief Deitsch, he ordered renewed activity in the case and in the afternoon went over to Campbell County to personally supervise the work of his detectives.

IDENTIFIED THE BODY.

Chief Deitsch interviewed both Mrs. Burkhardt and her daughter at their home.

Mrs. Anna Burkhardt said:

"I went to Newport Tuesday morning to view the corpse, and can say almost positively that it is that of Francisca Engelhardt, who married Dr. Kettner. I could recognize her hand out of hundreds. She had remarkably beautiful hands, and always held up the right one in a peculiar position when speaking. When I saw the body at the Morgue I took her hand and placed it in that position, and the resemblance strongly confirmed my first conclusion. The size of the body also corresponds with the stature of the girl I knew.

"When she lived with us I slept with her, and, therefore, know her peculiarities. She had a very pretty foot, of which she was exceedingly proud. She would often hold it up to view and speak about it. The toes were peculiarly shaped, and I immediately recognized them on the corpse.

"Before I entered the room with Detective Keating to look at the body, I fully described her peculiar foot to him. He had never seen the body, either, and was also immediately struck with the resemblance of the foot to my description.

"She came to my house in September, 1893, but she took a position that same fall in Dr. Reamy's hospital, on Walnut Hills, as telephone girl. She visited us frequently, however, and often stayed all night with us.

BEFORE SHE MARRIED KETTNER,

she received letters from Mitchell, S. D., and told us that they were from a Dr. Kettner. On April 13, 1894, he came to see her at my house, and the next day—it was Saturday, April 14—she gave up her position at the hospital and was married to Kettner by Squire Winkler. My daughter was a witness to the ceremony. They lived here for ten days after the marriage, and since that time I have seen neither of them. The woman also stated a very important fact. She says that the girl wore a corset having two inside pockets, and was in the habit of carrying everything of value, such as money and articles that she prized, in these pockets. When she married Kettner Mrs. Burkhardt warned her in a friendly way that perhaps he was not honest. In answer to this the girl drew the marriage certificate from her bosom, displaying it and saying that she would never part with it, but would carry it in her corset. The couple made frequent trips to Ft. Thomas, which seemed to be a favorite resort with them."

Illustration: Her struggle was useless, the life-blood was pouring from a gaping wound in her throat.

KETTNER HAD A MOTIVE.

Dr. Kettner had a motive, which made this clew seem the right one for such a deed as committed at Fort Thomas. Being a bigamist and fearing that his first wife, who followed him so many miles, would prosecute him, his only hope was to secure the marriage certificate and other evidence against him. The Engelhardt girl always carried the marriage certificate in her bosom, beneath the corset, and more than once said she would never part with it.

POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION HELD ON THE BODY OF THE UNKNOWN VICTIM.

At 3 o'clock Monday afternoon Dr. Robert Carothers, of Newport, made a post-mortem examination of the body at White's undertaking establishment. It was made in the presence of Dr. J. O. Jenkins, Drs. J. L. and C. T. Phythian, Dr. J. W. Fishback and Coroner W. S. Tingley. The examination occupied over an hour, and was very thorough. The result was the finding of a foetus of between four or five months' gestation. The doctors also came to the conclusion that the woman was not over 20 years of age, and that she had never before been pregnant. The foetus was removed and taken to A. F. Goetze's pharmacy, corner of Fifth and York Streets, where it was placed in alcohol for preservation.

The stomach was taken out and turned over to Dr. W. H. Crane, of the Medical College of Ohio, in Cincinnati, and he made all the known tests for the various poisons that might have been administered. This was done to ascertain, if possible, whether the woman was drugged before being taken to the place where the crime was committed.

Dr. Carothers, who was at the time a professor at the Ohio Medical College, had been an interne in the Cincinnati Hospital, and his experience qualified him to judge accurately of other details than those pertaining only to professional matters.

"I am satisfied that the girl was not outraged," said he. "The man had a reason to kill her, and the result of the post mortem shows it. I judge that it was a premediated and cold-blooded murder. The girl, in my opinion, was from the country and was comparatively innocent. She was brought to Cincinnati to submit to a criminal operation. Once here she was taken to F. Thomas and murdered. Her head was taken away, horrible as it may seem, merely to prevent the identification of her body."

A NEWPORT SHOE DEALER DOES SOME DETECTIVE WORK.

L. D. Poock, a leading shoe merchant of Newport, who took a most decidedly active interest in the case from the start, claiming as was proven true afterwards that the marks in the shoes would certainly identify the remains, did some valuable detective work under the direction of Sheriff Plummer. Mr. Poock was struck by the narrowness of the shoes worn by the dead girl, and opened them to discover the size and width. He recognized the fact that 11 and 22 in the shoe would give him the information desired if he had but the key.

While at one of the Cincinnati factories, a salesman stepped forward and recognized the shoe as one manufactured by Drew, Selby & Co., of Portsmouth, Ohio.

Upon this information Mr. Poock, determined upon seeing the whole thing out, took a train for Portsmouth, and, arriving at the factory of Drew, Selby & Co., established in 10 minutes that Louis & Hays had given an order for 12 pairs of black cloth top button shoes April 18, 1895, for fall delivery. The shipment was made September the 3., 1895, and among the lot there was but one pair of shoes numbered 22-11.

This clew so thoroughly worked up by Mr. Poock, who kept Sheriff Plummer and the detectives, who had gone to Greencastle, Ind., posted as to the result of his investigation regarding the shoes, proved to be the correct one, the one by which the body of the murdered woman was positively identified and by the investigation of which the arrest of the murderers was secured.

THE DETECTIVES AND SHERIFF PLUMMER AT GREENCASTLE, IND.

Sheriff Jule Plummer of Campbell County, Kentucky, and Detectives Crim and McDermott of Cincinnati, who had gone to Greencastle, were kept thoroughly posted as to the work being done on the Cincinnati or rather Fort Thomas tragedy. Not a clew or theory with the least resemblance to truth was neglected.

The first persons seen were Messrs. Louis & Hays, the shoe dealers from whom the shoes worn by the victim were supposed to have been purchased. Mr. Hays said that the shoes were manufactured by Drew, Selby & Co., of Portsmouth, Ohio, and showed Sheriff Plummer a telegram from the latter firm which was received that morning. In this it was stated that in the entire lot of shoes which had been especially made to order for Louis & Hays, but one pair was numbered 22-11, which is the Portsmouth firm's mark for size three. This pair was found upon the unfortunate girl. Upon this theory Sheriff Plummer and Detectives Crim and McDermott went to work. Of that whole lot of shoes made for Louis & Hays by the Portsmouth firm, the officers located seven pairs, leaving but two unaccounted for. The clerks in the shoe store were shown the muddy shoe taken from the girl's foot. They all recognized it at a glance.

The articles of wearing apparel which were also brought along were shown to nearly all of the leading dry goods merchants. None of them were able to recognize even one of the articles. An effort was also made to identify the gloves worn by the murdered woman. In none of the stores could a similar pair be found.

The officers were not discouraged however. The proof was positive almost beyond a doubt that the shoes worn by the murdered girl had been sold to her by Louis & Hays in their store at Greencastle. This was the only tangible clew they had to work on and with it properly run down, they were perfectly satisfied, they would secure the identification of the beheaded woman, if not fix the guilt of the crime on some one in the immediate vicinity.

Another visit was made to Louis & Hays store at night, the books of the firm were carefully gone over again and again. Only seven of the nine pairs of the Drew, Selby & Co., shoes sold by Louis & Hays could be accounted for, and none of those were the ones worn by the murdered woman.

The Fort Thomas tragedy, and the coming of Sheriff Plummer, Detectives Crim and McDermott to Greencastle, in search of the identification of the shoes had aroused the people at that place, especially so, the suspicion of a Mr. A. W. Early, Manager of the Western Union, to whose noble work, the officers owe nearly all their success and information.

The description of the body of the dead girl, especially that part, which described her fingers as resembling those of a seamstress, and the little wart on the finger, aroused the suspicion of Mrs. Alexander S. Bryan, whose daughter Pearl, was, as the mother thought, visiting friends in Indianapolis, Ind. Nothing was mentioned of these suspicions outside the immediate family, but so strong were the suspicions with them, that Fred Bryan a brother of Pearl telegraphed to Indianapolis to Pearl's friends, asking if she was there. The answer came that Pearl had not been in Indianapolis, although she had left for that city, Jan., 28.

A. W. Early, the manager for the Western Union Telegraph Company at Greencastle, saw the telegram and answer from Indianapolis. It was then, he knew, that he possessed positive information, not only as to the identification of the headless body at the Morgue in Newport, but also to the fixing of the guilt on one or more persons, one of whom at least was Early's intimate friend. Realizing this and awe-stricken with the horribleness of the deed in which his friend was, to say the least, indirectly implicated, he rushed at once to the hotel and in an excited manner called the officers out to tell them his story. After a very hurried conference with Early the officers all left the hotel to go with Early to his office where he gave the first real clew to the victim and upon which information, three men Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling, students at the Ohio Dental College, in Cincinnati, and William Wood, a medical student who was with his uncle in South Bend, Ind., were on that same night arrested, charged with the murder and complicity in the murder of Pearl Bryan, whose headless body lay at Undertaker White's Establishment in Newport, Ky.

Early's story was that he came to Greencastle Oct. 4., 1895. "Soon after my arrival at Greencastle I made the acquaintance of Will Wood, a student at Depauw University. This acquaintance soon ripened into a friendship which brought us together a great deal and made us confide to each other much more than is ordinary among young men.

"So fast did the friendship between Will Wood and myself become that he would show me his letters. Among those he showed, I remember one from Scott Jackson, a young man from Greencastle, who is in Cincinnati attending a dental college.

"In this letter Jackson confided to his chum, Will Wood, that he, Jackson and Pearl Bryan had been too intimate, that she had loved not wisely, but too well, and as a result he had betrayed her, that Pearl would soon become a mother, and asked Wood's help in this matter.

"He admitted his intimacy with Pearl, and his responsibility for her present condition. He quoted recipes calculated to prevent the evil results of their indiscretion, and asked Wood to get them and give them to Pearl.

"Wood did this, as he said he was willing to do anything he could for Jackson and especially for Pearl, who was Wood's second cousin.

"These drugs however did not have the desired effect of reversing the laws of nature.

"One letter, I remember was in answer to one which Wood had written to Jackson, informing him that Pearl Bryan was showing the effects of her indiscretion and intimacy with Jackson, and telling him that the recipes sent by him had been furnished by Wood.

"Jackson regretted that his recipes had failed but said something must be done and suggested that the girl be sent to Cincinnati, stating that he could arrange to have an abortion performed on her.

"Wood told me afterward that Pearl had gone to Cincinnati to have a criminal operation performed, and had told her parents she was going to Indianapolis to visit friends. She had money with her, sufficient to cover any expenses she might incur in such an undertaking."

He then told of Fred Bryan the brother of Pearl, telegraphing to Indianapolis inquiring about Pearl and receiving an answer that she had not been there.

It was midnight when the detectives heard of this and went to the house of Mr. Spivy, of Louis & Hays, and got him to go to the shoe store with them. On arriving there the books of the firm were again examined and the name of Pearl Bryan was found on them, and the fact that she had bought a pair of No. 3 shoes was found. In all their scrutiny of the books this fact had escaped the detectives and shoe dealers.

IDENTIFIED THE CLOTHING.

This settled the fact that Pearl Bryan had purchased the shoes, and at two o'clock Wednesday morning the officers visited the home of the Bryans, taking with them the clothes found on the murdered woman. Here an awful climax came. The mother of Pearl was shown the clothes and one by one she positively identified them between her sobs and cries of "My Pearl, my Pearl."

The dress was one which had been made over for Pearl out of one which had belonged to a dead sister. The bloody undershirt was at once recognized. The family sought to find something upon which to base a hope that it might not be their loved one, and argued that she might have given her clothes to some one else, but this has positively been disproven. The murdered woman was Pearl Bryan.

The blow to their hopes came when the officers told them that the murdered woman had webbed or deformed toes, and described them to her. Her sister exclaimed: "My God, it is Pearl! We used to tease her about those when she was little." The scar on the right hand was then told of and added a link to the identification.

Even the hairpins were positively identified as belonging to Pearl. There were two gold-plated and two rubber ones of an auburn hue. There remained no doubt as to whom the missing woman was, and there was but one thing to do—pursue her murderer.

The whole thing became plain to the officers. They at once determined to secure the arrest of both Jackson and Wood. They knew that Jackson was in Cincinnati so they decided to wire Chief of Police Deitsch and have Jackson arrested and to go in person to South Bend, Ind., for which place Wood had left on the Thursday previous, for the purpose of studying medicine with his uncle, and place Wood under arrest.

They at once sent the following telegram:

"GREENCASTLE, IND., FEBRUARY 5, 1896.

PHILIP DEITSCH, Superintendent of Police, Cincinnati, Ohio: Arrest and charge with murder of Pearl Bryan, one Scott Jackson, student at Dental College, about 24 years old, 5 feet 7 or 8 inches high, weighs about 136 pounds, blonde, nearly sandy mustache, light complexion, may have beard of about six months growth, effeminate in appearance. Positive identification of clothing by family. Arrest if in Cincinnati, William Wood, friend of Jackson. Charge as accomplice. About 20 years, 5 feet 11 inches, light blonde hair, smooth face, rather slender, weighs 165 pounds. We go from here to South Bend after Wood as he left here for that place.

CRIM MCDERMOTT AND PLUMMER."

Immediately on receipt of the telegram Colonel Deitsch detailed Detectives Witte, Bulmer and Jackson to look after Jackson. It was learned that he roomed at the house of Mrs. McNevin, at 222 West Ninth, next door to Robinson's Opera House. Detective Jackson was stationed in the house and Witte and Bulmer in the saloon opposite.

Just when it seemed as though their intended game had discovered the fact that the officers were after him and had left for parts unknown he was captured.

It was after nine o'clock, when almost the last ray of hope had died out of the officers breasts, that Chief of Police Deitsch received word that Jackson had just been seen at the Palace Hotel. The chief started out and ran into a man answering Jackson's description. He informed the detectives of the fact, the fellow was watched and was seen to walk slowly down Ninth Street, and on reaching 222 he looked up at the windows. He strolled slowly to Plum Street and stopped and again looked back at the house.

He then walked rapidly north on Plum Street toward Court. When he had traversed part of the square Detective Bulmer stepped up to him, saying: "Your name is Jackson, isn't it?"

The man turned perfectly livid and trembled like an aspen, and as the detective continued to say, "I want you," he exclaimed, "My God! what is this for?"

At the same time the start was made for the Mayor's Office.

At Ninth Street Colonel Deitsch met the prisoner and said: "Well, 'Dusty' (Jackson's nickname), we have got you."

"Yes," responded the prisoner, "it looks like it."

AT THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.

When the Mayor's office was reached the prisoner was hustled into the presence of Mayor Caldwell.

The scene in the private office of Mayor Caldwell in the City Hall was undoubtedly the most remarkable ever witnessed there.

The Mayor was sitting in his office with his Chief Clerk, Cliff Lakeman, when Jackson was ushered into his presence by the officers, at the head of whom was Chief of Police Deitsch. A few minutes later the room was thronged with representatives of the newspapers and detectives. Coroner Haerr was also there waiting for possible developments.

Jackson, the prisoner, sat in the center of a long sofa on the east side of the room. On the side of him was Chief Deitsch. The latter conducted the examination, while the Mayor sat in his chair, smoked a cigar and listened.

THE EXAMINATION.

"Is this Mayor Caldwell?" asked Jackson.

"It is," responded His Honor.

"The officers say you want to see me."

"Yes, I want to talk with you."

"What is your name?"

"Scott Jackson."

"You are also known as Dusty?"

"Yes, sometimes."

"Where is your home?"

"My home is in Greencastle, Ind."

"Do you know Pearl Bryan?"

"I do."

"Where did you last see her?"

"It was during the hollidays. I think on January 2."

"Have you seen her since?"

"I have not."

"Do you know William Wood?"

"I do."

"What is his business?"

"I don't know. He used to be connected with the school at Greencastle. Saw him last about January 6."

Chief Deitsch here read the dispatch under which the arrest was made.

"What have you to say to that?"

"The charge is entirely false. I don't know anything about that."

"That's what everybody says who is arrested," said Chief Deitsch, "but the identification of the clothes and other facts point to you as the man who took Pearl Bryan or her body to Ft. Thomas. Where were you last Friday evening?"

"I must have been in my room."

"What time did you go to your room?"

"I think I had supper about 7 o'clock and went home about 7:30."

"What did you do?"

"I studied in my room."

"Was your roommate there?"

"I think he was."

"Where were you Thursday night?"

"I was home, I think. My roommate was out that evening. When he came in I had retired."

"How about Saturday evening?"

"I went out with a friend and went to the theater."

"Who took supper with you Friday evening?"

"I think I was alone."

"Where did you eat?"

"At Heider's."

"Ever stay there over night?"

"I did not."

"Did your roommate?"

"Yes, I think he did last Wednesday night."

"You have not been home to-day?"

"Yes, I left there about 10 o'clock this morning."

"Where did you go?"

"I went to see a young lady, and took her to dinner, I was with her all afternoon."

"Where were you?"

"At the Emery Hotel."

"Where did you go in the evening?"

"The young lady went to her place of business, and later I put her on the car. Then I went to Heiders for supper."

"Where then?"

"Oh, I was just walking around the streets."

"Who was with you?"

"I stopped in a barber shop about 9 o'clock and walked a piece with one of the barbers."

"Did you meet any one else you knew?"

"I did not."

"Where were you going when you were arrested?"

"I was going to the college to see if the boys were dissecting."

"Why did you pass the house and look up at it?"

"Well, I don't know. I am turned around now."

"What have you to say to the telegram?"

"I don't know what to say. I can't imagine why they mention me in it."

"Did you read of the murder?"

"Part of it. It made me sick to my stomach."

"Were you in Newport lately?"

"No sir; I was not."

"Didn't you take an interest in the murder when you read of Greencastle being the probable home of the murdered girl?"

"I spoke to several people in the house about it."

"You left the lady this evening and went to supper, and then walked around town?"

"I did."

"Did you meet any one else you knew?"

"I met Walling, I think, after supper."

"Where did you see him?"

"Now, I think of it. It was in the barber shop, where I was waiting."

"See any one else?"

"No, sir."

"How long have you been at the dental college?"

"Since October 14., last."

"Did you come from Greencastle?"

"I did."

"Where else have you roomed?"

"On Carlisle avenue."

"When was Miss Bryan up to Cincinnati?"

"Don't know. Didn't know she was here."

"Where did you last see her?"

"On January 2., at her home while I was at Greencastle spending the holidays."

"Were you friends?"

"Only friendly."

"Does she live at home?"

"She does."

"What do her parents do?"

"Her father is a farmer and keeps a dairy."

"What kind of a looking girl is Pearl?"

"Rather slender. I am a poor judge of height. She was not as tall as I am—almost, though. She was light complexioned."

"What will she weigh?"

"Suppose about 105 or 110 pounds."

"Did she ever live out?"

"I don't know, but I don't think so."

"You were in the habit of paying your respects to her?"

"I called on her a few times."

"Did you ever go out with her?"

"Once, I guess."

"She was not a farmhand?"

"No, she worked around the house."

"Was she of a quiet disposition?"

"As far as I know she was."

"Do you know of any other men she kept company with?"

"Yes, but she never kept company with me."

"Who then?"

"Well, she gave a party some time ago. I saw a number of gentlemen there."

"Well, Jackson, this is a serious charge. I will have to hold on to you."

"I don't see why they accuse me of this."

"What is your roommate's name?"

"Alonzo Walling."

"Did you ever correspond with Pearl Bryan?"

"Once or twice."

"Ever since January 22?"

"I think not."

"Have you talked about the murder?"

"Yes; at the house. I don't know how the subject was brought up. I was very much interested in the case."

"Did you read of the girl probably being from Greencastle?"

"Yes."

Colonel Deitsch at this point reviewed the evidence against the prisoner and the Greencastle part of it, and said: "And you didn't inquire about it?"

"I read that the Sheriff of Newport was in Greencastle, and that the shoes found on the dead woman had been purchased from Louis & Hayes—that they had accounted for nearly all the shoes they sold."

"Didn't you think the girl would be heard from?"

"There were so many theories that I didn't know what to think."

"Do you remember leaving a valise in Legner's saloon last Saturday night?"

"I do."

"Didn't you take it away Monday morning and leave another?"

"No, sir."

"Why did you leave the valise at the saloon?"

"I was just going as far as the corner and I didn't want to carry it."

"Did you take it away the same day?"

"Yes, I think I did."

"What was in it?"

"Nothing."

"How far was it from your room?"

"Just across the street."

"You say there was nothing in the valise?"

"I don't think there was."

"Where did you get it?"

"I bought it in Indianapolis."

"How did you happen to take it out Saturday night?"

"I don't recollect just now."

"Where is it now?"

"I loaned it to a student of the name of Hackelman."

"What did he want with it?"

"I didn't ask him. I took it to him to the college."

"What kind of valise was it?"

"Tan colored."

"Strap or handbag?"

"Handbag."

"Has it been returned?"

"No, sir."

"What is Hackelman's first name?"

"I don't know."

"Have you seen him since?"

"I have not."

"Where does he live?"

"I don't know."

"How did you come to take that valise to the saloon?"

"I just left it there."

"Did you have it with you in the evening?"

"Yes, but I don't see why I took it down town."

"Was it heavy?"

"No, only bothersome."

"You had two valises, didn't you?"

"No, only one."

"Didn't you leave one over at Legner's saloon Saturday, and a different one Monday?"

"No, I did not."

"Why don't you tell the truth about this?"

"I did tell the truth, all but about the valise. I got that back."

The prisoner persisted in his story that he knows nothing about the murder, and after a little further examination he was taken down stairs and locked up on the charge of murder.

LOCKED UP AT THE STATION.

Jackson was taken from the Mayor's office through the long corridor on the Eighth-Street side of the City Hall by Detective Bill Bulmer, who walked on the right side of him and held his arm. Employes of the waterworks, janitors and other attaches of the big building followed in the wake of the couple until Central Police Station was reached. At the station house the receiving room was thronged with curious ones who had heard of the arrest of the dental student. Lieutenant Sam Corbin and Sergeant Billy Borck were behind the desk. Bulmer took his prisoner up to the desk, and immediately a big crowd swarmed in to see how Jackson would act while being registered. Lieutenant Corbin registered the prisoner. The questions and answers were as follows:

"What is your name?"

"Scott Jackson."

"Where do you live?"

"I live here now."

"Whereabouts?"

"No. 222 West Ninth Street."

"Old or new number?"

"I don't know; it's next door to Robinson's Opera House."

"What is your occupation?"

"Dental student."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-six."

"Married or single?"

"Single."

"Where were you born?"

"In Maine."

"What's the charge against this man?"

"Murder," replied Bulmer.

"Is that right?" asked Corbin, looking the prisoner in the eye.

"I believe that's what they say," replied Jackson.

Illustration: Between sobs and cries of "My Pearl, my Pearl," Mrs. Bryan identified the clothing.

Among other things found in Jackson's pockets were two carriage tickets on the Central Newport Bridge. The tickets may prove to be of a great importance in the case, as it shows that the prisoner was in the habit of crossing the bridge.

After Jackson had been searched he was led back to his cellroom by Detective Bulmer and Officer Jake Bernhart.

Jackson had been locked in his cell but a few moments when Detectives Bulmer and Witte walked into the station and suggested to Lieutenant Corbin that the prisoner be taken into the room behind the receiving desk and thoroughly searched. The suggestion was acted upon at once, and what may prove to be most startling evidence was discovered.

The clothing of the prisoner was all removed and two scratches were found on his right arm. One scratch begins just below the elbow and extends almost to the wrist. It is almost three inches long. The other scratch is much shorter and is on the wrist.

Spots of blood were also noticed on the right sleeve of the prisoner's undershirt. From the appearance of the sleeve attempts had been made to remove the blood from the shirt.

"Where did that blood come from?" asked Lieutenant Corbin.

"I was bothered with bugs the other night and I scratched myself," answered the prisoner.

Jackson then said he had been troubled with some sort of a skin eruption for some time past, and he pointed to some abrasions on his breast to confirm his story.

Nothing was discovered in neither garments of the man that would show that he had attempted to conceal any papers or other evidence after his arrest.

WALLING ARRESTED

Alonzo Walling, Jackson's roommate, was arrested, at 3:30 Thursday morning, by Lieutenant Corbin, and locked up at Central Station. It was thought when Jackson was arrested that night that Walling had no connection with the matter, but later developments went to show that he knew far more than either had admitted.

It was ascertained that the two men had been very intimate, and that they were together on the night of the murder. It was also discovered that Walling had been intimate with a girl in Louisville with whom Jackson was on more than friendly terms, and that both men had corresponded with her.

The cause for Wallings arrest was a chance remark made by Jackson about two o'clock in the morning. Shortly after being locked up Jackson called Turnkey Curren to him and said:

"I want you to get a chair and sit in front of my cell all night," said Jackson, who then exhibited the first sign of appreciating his position.

"Are you afraid of getting lynched?" asked the turnkey.

"Well, never mind that, I prefer to be well guarded whether I'm in danger or not."

After ordering his cell watched, Jackson lay down on the bunk in his cell and tried to go to sleep, but he was exceedingly restless and rolled around on his couch for a long time without getting any rest.

About two o'clock Jackson entered into a conversation with the turnkey in which almost his first question was:

"Hasn't Walling been arrested yet?"

"Why should he be arrested?" was asked.

Jackson refused to answer this question, and his actions showed that he did not care to talk further about his roommate. When Lieutenant Corbin heard of Jackson's actions he at once went to 222 West Ninth Street and arrested Walling, when he was subjected to a rigid examination by the officer.

"Were you in Wallingford's saloon with Jackson and a girl last Friday night?" was asked.

"Yes, I was," replied Walling.

"Who was the girl whom you were with?" was asked.

"I don't know who she was," he replied.

"Well you had better tell all you know about this matter," said the officer. "Now tell me who all were in the party at Wallingford's last Friday night."

"I don't know anything more about it," said Walling.

"Well, you may consider yourself under arrest, then," said Lieutenant Corbin.

Walling was taken to police headquarters and locked up, but Jackson was not informed of his arrest until the next day.

At 6.30 the same morning a telegram was received from the Cincinnati Detectives who had gone to South-Bend, Ind., bringing the startling information that Will Wood was arrested there, and confessed to the responsibility for the death of Pearl Bryan, whose headless body was found in the Kentucky Highlands. He said that he had arranged for Pearl Bryan to come to Cincinnati for the purpose of having a criminal operation performed, and that such an operation was performed, resulting in the death of the girl. Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling were both concerned in it. The body of the woman was taken to the spot where it was found and the head removed to prevent identification.

Investigations were still being made at Greencastle Ind., and the wires between Cincinnati and that staid old Methodist town, were kept hot.

Excitement was at a fever heat at both points.

Evidence was accumulating at each end and it seemed the nooses were rapidly tightening around the necks of Jackson, Walling and Wood.

The investigation showed that Scott Jackson had met Pearl Bryan at her home in the early spring of 1895. He left shortly afterward to attend the dental college at Indianapolis and his visits to Greencastle, while not frequent, were always to see Miss Bryan. In September he returned to Greencastle and entered the office of a local dentist. It was then the criminal intimacy between the two began.

He became attentive, and with a veneering of the usages of polite society managed to fascinate the farmer's daughter. His power over her seemed almost hypnotic. So great was his control over her that she is said to have kept appointments with him in the dental office where he was serving his apprenticeship.

He sought to get rid of her and left the town. Jackson left Greencastle on October 3, and returned to spend the holidays. He seems to have allowed his love to grow cold, for he paid no attention to the girl whom he had robbed of all that a woman holds dear.

In vain did Pearl send for him to come to see her. He answered none of her entreaties, and left the town without seeing her except when by chance he met her on the street.

When it became apparent that she could not much longer conceal her shame, she told her parents she was going to Indianapolis to visit a friend.

NEVER PARALLELED WERE THE SCENES ABOUT POLICE HEADQUARTERS.

The scenes enacted at police headquarters early in the day, following the arrest of Jackson and Walling, were never paralleled in Cincinnati.

Hundreds of persons thronged the corridors in the immediate vicinity of the offices of the department, while a vast crowd was assembled on the outside of the building.

Upon the arrival of Supt. Deitsch he at once repaired to Mayor Caldwell's office, where a star chamber session of some length was held. In the meantime the crowd continued to increase, and it became necessary to call for a detail of policemen to drive back the curious people. In the Mayor's office were Detectives Crim and McDermott with the Mayor and Chief of Police, who for nearly two hours held a seance with the accused men in their effort to reach the truth. The examination of Walling by the mayor was severe to a remarkable degree.

WALLING'S DAMAGING STATEMENT.

He told a long story of his acquaintance with Jackson, but the most startling points were when he came down to a conversation held in their room last Christmas day. Then he said: "Jackson took me into a corner of the room and told me that he and Billy Woods had gotten Pearl Bryan into trouble and that he must get rid of her. He suggested two ways in which it might be done. One of the plans he suggested was to take her to a room and kill her there and leave her. Then he spoke up quickly and said: 'No, I have a sudden thought as something often tells me when I am on the wrong idea. It would not do to leave her there, so I will instead cut her to pieces and drop the pieces in different vaults around town.'"

A few days afterward Walling says that he and Jackson were in Wallingford's saloon with a number of medical students, and there Jackson made inquiries as to the poison that would kill the quickest. He was told that hydrocyanic or prussic acid was the quickest, but that cocaine was about the next and most deadly.

JACKSON PURCHASED COCAINE.

Shortly after that Jackson bought cocaine at Koelble's drug store, on Sixth Street, between Plum and Elm.

"Do you know where he was going to take her?"

"Yes; he said he was going to take her to Ft. Thomas.

"About two weeks ago he asked me if I would help the girl out of trouble, and I said I would. He said she was coming here in about a week, and he would take me to where she was shopping. Last Monday night he told me the girl would be here that night. The next day Jackson told me the girl was at the Indiana House, and asked me to go down there. I went with him, and he went to her room while I waited down stairs. The next day he told me he had an engagement with the girl at Fourth and Plum Streets, and for me to go there and tell her he would meet her in the evening. That is the last I ever saw of the girl."

"When did he kill her?"

"I guess he did it Friday night."

"How did he do it?"

"Well, if you will go to our room you will find a hypodermic syringe, which I think will tell the whole story."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he had a bottle of white stuff in the room, and I asked him what it was. He said it was arsenic and cocaine. I asked him what he was going to do with it, and he said he was going to give it to the girl."

"Did he give it to her?"

"Well, I guess he used the cocaine. I don't think it killed her at once, and that she tried to fight him off when he went to cut off her head."

"Where do you think he was on the Wednesday night before the murder?"

MET THE GIRL AT WALLINGFORD'S.

"I think he went to see the girl at Wallingford's saloon. I was there, but I did not go into the back room, where she was."

"What time did he get home that night?"

"I think it was after midnight. He came in with a valise, and I saw him open it and say, 'You are a beaut, you are.' He thought I was asleep."

"How about Thursday night?"

"I saw him that night, and I was afraid to stay home and I went to Heider's Hotel."

"When did he take the girl to Ft. Thomas?"

"This was on Friday night. I was in Heider's restaurant eating my supper, and Jackson called me out and told me to go to Fountain Square and wait with the girl until he came back. He said he would not be gone over 10 or 15 minutes. He came back, and I left them. I believe he went to the room and got the hypodermic syringe and the poison."

"What do you think he did with the head?"

"Well, in my opinion he buried it."

"Where do you think it is buried?"

"I think it is in this neighborhood."

"What makes you think so?"

"Well, last Monday night I was standing on Ninth and Plum and Jackson came along. He had a valise, and asked me to go with him. I told him I didn't care to, and he left. He had the same valise which is now in the possession of the police with the blood stains in it."

"What do you think became of her jacket?"

"Why, she didn't wear a jacket. It was a long fur cape. I don't think he could get it in the valise with the head."

"What do you think became of it?"

"Well, I can't say as to that. These things have all come to me, and I may recollect something else after awhile."

A DECOY LETTER SENT BY JACKSON TO THE MURDERED GIRL'S MOTHER.

In less than a half hour after making the confession Walling again sent for the Chief of Police and said:

"I want to see you about another thing that may have a big bearing on this case," said the prisoner.

"What is it?"

"Well, yesterday afternoon Jackson got some paper and envelopes and told me he was going to the Palace Hotel to write some letters. I asked him who he was going to write to and he said to Wood. He said he was going to inclose a letter purporting to be from Pearl Bryan to her mother and that he was going to have Wood sent it, I think, to Geneva and have it mailed from that point to Mrs. Bryan. He said he was going to do this to throw Mrs. Bryan off the track."

"Do you know that he sent the letter?"

"He told me on the evening he was arrested that he had sent it."

This information was given to Mayor Caldwell, and the following dispatch was sent:

CINCINNATI, OHIO, February 6, 1896.

POSTMASTER, South Bend, Ind.: Kindly sent all mail addressed to Wm. Wood from this city to me.

JOHN A. CALDWELL, Mayor.

Young Wood, who was present, said he had got a letter from Jackson yesterday, which he had torn up. It went on to ask him to stick to him, and not to say too much. Young Wood was perfectly satisfied to have the mail sent back here.

Chief Deitsch after sending the information to Mayor Caldwell continued his investigation with:

"I have just talked with Jackson, and he puts all the blame upon you. He says you performed the abortion somewhere across the river."

"I don't know a thing about it, except what he told me."

"Well, now, did you do it or did Jackson? He says you did it."

"He's putting it all on me now, is he? Well, he's the one who is guilty. I know nothing of it."

"What did he tell you had become of the head?"

"I understand that he threw it in the Ohio River."

"Do you know where the operation was performed?"

"No, I don't. If I did, it would make it much easier for me to clear myself. As it is, I can prove where I was Friday night. It will all come out in a little while."

"Jackson says that you threw the head into the river, and that the next day you told him to get rid of anything lying around loose at the boarding house by throwing it into the river."

"I never saw the head, and he told me that he threw it into a sewer."

"Didn't you throw the girl's stockings, skirt and other things, which were covered with blood, into the river Saturday morning from the Suspension Bridge?"

"No, he did this himself."

"Then he says the skull was cut up and thrown over piecemeal by you."

"I don't know about the cutting up part, but deny the other."

JACKSON TELLS CHIEF DEITSCH THAT WALLING COMMITTED THE DEED.

Scott Jackson spent a sleepless night at the Central Police Station, and early next morning was taken to Chief Deitsch's private office. He had a haggard, restless look, and when asked to make a confession, sought to throw the blame upon Wood, and subsequently upon Walling.

His story was: Wood was the author of Pearl Bryan's ruin. When Jackson went home to spend the hollidays, Wood told him that Miss Bryan was in a delicate condition, and, knowing Jackson to be studying medicine, asked him what could be done in the matter. Jackson said he could do nothing in the matter, but Wood insisted that he help in an attempted abortion, as this was the only thing which would save him (Wood) and the girl from disgrace. Jackson refused to do this.

"What have you to say regarding the information now in the possession of the authorities that you and Walling were seen in the vicinity of Fort Thomas last Friday night in a hack drawn by a gray horse?"

"That information is erroneous. I was not there, and can establish the fact."

"Who do you think murdered the girl?"

"Alonzo Walling."

"Do you think the murdered girl is Pearl Bryan?"

"Oh, there is no question about that. It is her."

"How, and where was she killed?"

"I do not know."

"For what purpose?"

"To cover up previous wrong doings."

"And to shield who?"

"William Wood."

"Was Wood supposed to be Miss Bryan's sweetheart?"

"Yes sir; he was."

"And how was the affair planned?"

"Wood wrote to me, telling me of the trouble, and asking me to assist him out of it. I showed the letter to Walling, and he volunteered to undertake the job. It was then planned to bring the girl here. She arrived on Tuesday of last week, and what I saw and know of her after her arrival here, I have told."

"How do you account for the condition of your trousers, which have been found and are now in the possession of the authorities?"

"Well, the only way I can account for that, is that they were in our room and Walling put them on the night of the crime. I have not seen them since, and did not know that there was blood and mud on them."

WILL WOOD'S ARRIVAL.

It was 9 o'clock Thursday night when Sheriff Plummer and Detectives Crim and McDermott arrived in Cincinnati with William Wood, the third man in the terrible tragedy. Nothing else had been talked of during the day. Both in Newport and Cincinnati the excitement was intense. When early in the morning it was learned that the two men who were undoubtedly implicated in the horrible murder had been arrested in Cincinnati and an accessory to the crime arrested in Indiana and on his way to Cincinnati under guard, expressions of satisfaction at the arrests were heard on all sides. The subject of lynching the fiends,—Walling and Jackson—was freely discussed. That ominious appearance of suppressed excitement, which shows the keen determination of a mob and which they seek to hide as much as possible, was seen everywhere in the crowds gathered in knots all over the two cities. All that was needed in Cincinnati was a few good, trusty, fearless leaders. In Newport it was different. Determination and decision were seen on the blanched faces of men everywhere. Even Chief of Police Stricker and Lieutenant Smith, said it would be a very risky matter to bring the prisoners to Newport. There is no telling what would be done. Excitement has reached a very high pitch. "We will be well prepared for any outbreak of mob violence," said they, "and upon the slightest indication of any will arrest everybody concerned in the least with it."

WOOD EXAMINED. SAYS JACKSON BETRAYED THE GIRL. HE IS RELEASED WITHOUT BOND.

It was just 11:30 o'clock when Wood was subjected to an examination in the Mayor's private office. The father and uncle of the young man were present. The examination was as follows:

"What is your name?"

"William Wood."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty years old."

"Where do you live?"

"Greencastle Ind."

"You knew Pearl Bryan?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well?"

"Yes. She was a second cousin of mine."

"Does your family visit the Bryans?"

"Yes sir."

"Where you intimate with the girl?"

"No, sir."

"Did you know that she had been betrayed?"

"Yes sir."

"How did you find that out?"

"Jackson told me."

"What did he say?"

"He told me that he betrayed her in September."

"Did he tell any one else that?"

"Yes sir, he did. A young man in Greencastle."

"He will substantiate your statement then?"

"Yes sir."

"Did you receive any letters from Jackson about the condition of Miss Bryan?"

"Yes sir."

"When?"

"About the 10th of January, I think."

"What did he say?"

"He said that he was going to have an operation performed on her if he could get hold of enough money."

"Did the girl know of that at that time?"

"Yes sir."

"How did she find that out?"

"I told her myself."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to shield her."

"Was the letter you received from Jackson the only way that you knew that the girl had been betrayed?"

"No, she told me herself when I was out at the house several weeks ago."

"What did you say to that?"

"I told her to wait until I heard from Jackson."

"You took a great deal of interest in the case, did you not?"

"Yes, I would have done the same if she had been my own sister."

"What arrangement did Jackson say he had made when he wrote to you?"

"He said he had procured a room in Cincinnati, and that she would be taken care of by an old woman."

"What else did he say?"

"He said that the operation would be performed by a doctor and chemist who was an old hand at that kind of business."

"Did he mention the name of the doctor?"

"No, he said the party was a friend of Walling."

"Did the plan suit you?"

"Yes, I thought it was just the thing."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her that I thought it would be best for her to go."

"At that time you thought you would accompany her?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why did you change your mind?"

"Because my father requested my staying at home."

"But you met the girl at the depot when she came to Cincinnati?"

"Yes, sir."

"What day was that?"

"Monday, January 27."

"Did you have a long talk with the girl?"

"Well, I talked with her."

"About the operation?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did she seem pleased?"

"I never saw her so happy in my life."

"Did you have any other business at the train?"

"Yes, sir, I came to meet my father."

"Where had your father been?"

"To a quarterly meeting at Terra Haute."

"Then Miss Bryan left on the same train that your father came home on?"

"Yes, sir."

"Were you over in Cincinnati before?"

"No, sir."

"When did you see Jackson last?"

"When he was at home. It was on a Sunday. I think about the 5th or 6th of January."

"Where you with him very long?"

"Yes, nearly all day."

"Where did Jackson go when he left Greencastle?"

"He came to Cincinnati on an evening train."

"Do you know Walling?"

"No, sir."

"Never saw him?"

"Never in my life."

"Ever see a picture of him?"

"Yes, I saw a tin-type of him when Jackson was at home."

"Would you recognize that picture if you were to see it?"

"I think I would."

At this juncture of the examination Chief Deitsch went to get a picture of Walling but failed to find it.

Wood was taken down to Central Station and registered.

He gave his name as William Wood, aged 20, residence South Bend, Ind. After registering he went to the Grand Hotel with his father.

Excitement was running high by this time. The crowds in and around the City Hall, where the prisoners were, steadily increased, and the gravest fears were entertained by the officers. Cordon's of police lined the passage-ways from the Mayor's and Superintendent's offices to the cell-rooms below where the prisoners were confined, and every movement was guarded with the most jealous care.

A BLOODY VALISE. IT HAD CONTAINED THE GIRL'S HEAD, AND WAS LEFT IN A SALOON.

There were all kinds of rumors floating about the City Hall when John Kugel, the saloon-keeper at Ninth Street and Central avenue, walked into Clerk Vickers office and told him that he thought he had a valise belonging to Jackson.

"Then get it quick," said Vickers.

Kugel hurried over and in a few minutes returned with a brown leather hand-satchel about 15 inches long. It was taken to Chief Deitsch, who made an examination. There was nothing in it, but the sides were heavily stained with blood. Chief Deitsch closed the valise and asked Kugel who gave it to him. Kugel said that last Monday night about 8 o'clock a young man with a blonde mustache walked in his place and asked him to take care of the valise, saying he would call for it the next day.

After Kugel's arrival at headquarters Jackson was ordered brought up-stairs and a dramatic scene followed. Jackson was seated facing Chief Deitsch with the valise at the Chief's feet. Standing around were many persons at work on the case.

"Pick up that valise," said the Chief.

Jackson picked it up and held it in his lap.

"Open it."

He did so.

"What is in there?"

"Nothing that I can see, except that it is stained."

"What is it stained with?"

"It looks like blood?"

"Don't you know it is blood?"

Jackson's face flushed and his eyes twitched. He pulled his mustache and ran his fingers through his hair. He was only a moment answering, but it appeared to be an hour to those who were waiting for a reply. He finally moistened his lips with his tongue and said:

"I think it is blood, but I have not examined it carefully."

"Well, then, examine it carefully."

Jackson picked up the valise and held it close to his face. He peered down the blood-stained bag and his eyes rolled around his head. He put his hand to his forehead and slowly said:

"Yes, that is blood."

"Isn't that the valise in which you carried the head?"

"I guess it is, but I did not carry it."

"Well, who did?"

"Walling."

"Well, then, where is the head?"

"I guess it is in the river."

Kugel then identified Jackson as the man who had left the valise in the saloon.

"What did you leave it in Kugel's saloon for?" asked the Chief.

"I wasn't going to leave it there. I was going to get it and do away with it."

"Why did you want to get rid of it?"

"Well, it was better out of the way."

"Why?"

"Well, I wanted to shield myself of all those things."

"What were you so anxious to get rid of them for?" persisted the Chief.

"I just didn't want them about," was the prisoner's non-committal answer.

"What was in it first?"

"A lot of clothing and such things."

"Whose clothing was it?"

"Miss Bryan's, I think."

"What did it consist of?"

"Well, there was a skirt, a petticoat, some stockings and other things."

"Where are they?"

"I guess they are in the river, too."

Illustration: Jackson put his hand to his forehead and slowly said: "Yes, that is blood."

Night Chief Renkert then produced a small alligator valise that he had found in Lawrence's barber shop, 133 West Sixth Street, where Walling and Jackson often went. Jackson identified it as Pearl Bryan's. He said that the blood-stained one was also the property of the murdered girl.

AT WALLINGFORD'S. FRIDAY NIGHT, WITH PEARL BRYAN, JACKSON LEFT THERE IN A HACK.

David Wallingford, the proprietor of the saloon at Longworth and Plum, which Jackson and Waling frequented, and his colored porter Allen Johnson were brought in by the officers and questioned in the presence of Jackson and Walling by Chief Deitsch as follows:

"You knew Jackson pretty well, eh?"

"Oh, yes; he came into my saloon every night. He frequently brought his lady friends along, too."

"Was he in your saloon on Friday night last?"

"Yes, he brought a lady in with him and went back into the sitting-room."

"Do you know who the lady was?"

"Well, I didn't then. Of course I do now."

"Who was she?"

"Why, she was Miss Pearl Bryan. I saw Pearl Bryan's picture since, and haven't the slightest doubt it was her. They were back in the sitting-room."

"Did Jackson act queer that night?"

"No; I can't say that he did. But one thing that looked rather queer was that he came in a carriage and brought a new satchel in the saloon with him."

"Did Jackson order any drinks?"

"Not after he had ordered whiskey for himself and sarsaparilla for the girl, they then went away in the carriage."

"What time was that?"

"Oh, about 7 o'clock, I think."

"Did you see him any more that night?"

"No; he came in the next night (Saturday night), though."

"Did he bring a satchel with him on Saturday night?"

"Yes, he brought in the same satchel and put it on the table. I noticed that he sat it down rather heavily and I asked him what was in it. He said: 'Oh, some underclothes,' and we both laughed."

"Was Jackson as merry as usual?"

"No, he was rather depressed. He said his head hurt him devilish bad and he looked worried."

Johnson played an important part in the affair.

He persisted in the statement that Jackson, Walling and the girl, Miss Bryan, were at Wallingford's place on Friday night, and moreover that Albin the barber who shaved the two chums, was on the box and drove the cab in which they departed.

"I tell you I am not mistaken," persisted Johnson. "Let Albin put a cap on and I can recognize him; he wore a cap that night."

"Why are you so sure of the night?" was asked.

"Cause I had an engagement with my girl on that same night, and I remember distinctly."

Johnson said that he saw Walling on the outside and saw the woman get into the cab and drive away.

All of this Walling denied. Once Walling admitted that he was at the place, but he changed it again and declared that he was not there until Saturday night, when he saw Jackson borrow a dollar of the bartender.

Johnson stood in front of Walling and said:

"I don't want to get you into trouble, but you know you were there Friday night, and there is no use of you denying it."

Walling however, still refused any admission.

Once during the talk Jackson shook his finger in the face of Walling and said:

"Be careful; do not go too far."

Again he said: "You lie, and you know you are lying."

To which Walling answered: "You show in your eyes that you are lying."

The colored porter persisted in all the statements made to the authorities that Albin, the barber, was driving the cab.

ALBIN, THE BARBER. SAYS HE DID NOT DRIVE THE MYSTERIOUS CAB FRIDAY NIGHT.

Detectives Witte and Jackson were at once sent for Fred Albin the barber, and were not long in bringing him in. He and Johnson, the porter, were seated on the same lounge in the Mayor's office and Albin was examined by Chief Deitsch when he told the following story:

"I have known Alonzo Walling for about two years. He lived across the street from my home in Hamilton, O. Last fall he concluded to come to this city and study dentistry. He told me this and I offered to come to this city with him. I saw him nearly every evening, and in fact, we chummed together.