The Stewart grave robbery ended the career of the ghouls, and the
Charley Ross case put a stop to child-stealing for a generation,
by making those crimes unprofitable. The public excitement was
so great that it proved impossible for the thieves to deliver the
goods and effect the change for ransom. At intervals for years
these cases kept turning up in one new phase or another. You could
never tell where to look for them. Indeed, I have to thank the
Stewart ghouls for the first public recognition that came to me in
those early years of toil. Of all the mysteries that ever vexed a
reporter's soul, that was the most agonizing. The police, most of
the time, were as much in the dark as the rest of us, and nothing
was to be got from that source. Heaven knows I tried. In our desperation
we caught at every straw. One stormy night in the hottest of the
excitement Judge Hilton, who had offered the $50,000 reward for
the stolen body on behalf of Mrs. Stewart, went to Headquarters
and stayed an hour in the detective office. When he came out, he
was attended by two of the oldest and ablest detectives.
Pages:
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250