The Expressman and the Detective | Page 8

himself known to Floyd, of the Exchange, or to McGibony, the
local detective. I had also given Porter similar instructions. I suggested
to him the propriety of lodging at some low boarding house where
liquor was sold.
He was to keep me fully posted by letter of the movements of all
suspected parties, and if any of them left town to follow them and
immediately inform me by telegraph who they were and where they
were going, so that I could fill his place in Montgomery.
Having given him his instructions, I selected for his disguise a German
dress. This I readily procured from my extensive wardrobe, which I
keep well supplied by frequent attendance at sales of old articles.
When he had rigged himself up in his long German coat, his German
cap with the peak behind, and a most approved pair of emigrant boots,
he presented himself to me with his long German pipe in his mouth,
and I must say I was much pleased with his disguise, in which his own
mother would not have recognized him. He was as fine a specimen of a
Dutchman as could be found.

Having thoroughly impressed on his mind the importance of the case
and my determination to win the esteem of the company by ferreting
out the thief, if possible, I started him for Montgomery, where he
arrived in due time.
At the date agreed upon I went to New York to meet the General
Superintendent. I had never met the gentlemen of the company and I
was a little puzzled how to act with them.
I met the Vice-President at the express office, in such a manner that
none of the employés were the wiser as to my profession or business,
and he made an appointment to meet me at the Astor House in the
afternoon. At the Astor House he introduced me to the President, the
General Superintendent of the company, and we immediately
proceeded to business.
They gave me all the particulars of the case they could, though they
were not much fuller than those I had already received from Porter's
reports. They reviewed the life of Maroney, as already related, up to the
time he became their agent, stating that he was married, although his
marriage seemed somewhat "mixed".
As far as they could find out, Mrs. Maroney was a widow, with one
daughter, Flora Irvin, who was about seven or eight years old. Mrs.
Maroney was from a very respectable family, now living in
Philadelphia or its environs. She was reported to have run away from
home with a roué, whose acquaintance she had formed, but who soon
deserted her. Afterwards she led the life of a fast woman at Charleston,
New Orleans, Augusta, Ga., and Mobile, at which latter place she met
Maroney, and was supposed to have been married to him.
After Maroney was appointed agent in Montgomery he brought her
with him, took a suite of rooms at the Exchange, and introduced her as
his wife.
On account of these circumstances the General Superintendent did not
wish to meet her, and, when in Montgomery, always took rooms at
another hotel.

The Vice-President said he had nearly come to the conclusion that
Maroney was not guilty of the ten thousand dollar robbery; but when
my letter reached him, with my comments on the robbery, he became
convinced that he was the guilty party.
He was strengthened in this opinion by the actions of Maroney while
on his Northern tour, and by the fact that immediately on his return the
fast mare "Yankee Mary" made her appearance in Montgomery and
that Maroney backed her heavily. It was not known that he was her
owner, it being generally reported that Patterson and other fast men
were her proprietors.
This was all the Vice-President and General Superintendent had been
able to discover while South, and they were aware that I had very little
ground on which to work.
I listened to all they had to say on the subject and took full memoranda
of the facts. I then stated that although Maroney had evidently planned
and carried out the robbery with such consummate ability that he had
not left the slightest clue by which he could be detected, still, if they
would only give me plenty of time, I would bring the robbery home to
him.
I maintained, as a cardinal principle, that it is impossible for the human
mind to retain a secret. All history proves that no one can hug a secret
to his breast and live. Everyone must have a vent for his feelings. It is
impossible to keep them always penned up.
This is especially noticeable in persons who have committed criminal
acts. They always find it necessary to select some one in