The Expressman and the Detective | Page 9

whom they
can confide and to whom they can unburden themselves.
We often find that persons who have committed grave offenses will fly
to the moors, or to the prairies, or to the vast solitudes of almost
impenetrable forests, and there give vent to their feelings. I instanced
the case of Eugene Aram, who took up his abode on the bleak and
solitary moor, and, removed from the society of his fellow-men, tried to
maintain his secret by devoting himself to astronomical observations

and musings with nature, but who, nevertheless, felt compelled to
relieve his overburdened mind by muttering to himself details of the
murder while taking his long and dreary walks on the moor.
If Maroney had committed the robbery and no one knew it but himself,
I would demonstrate the truth of my theory by proving that he would
eventually seek some one in whom he thought he could confide and to
whom he would entrust the secret.
My plan was to supply him with a confidant. It would take time to
execute such a plan, but if they would have patience all would be well.
I would go to Montgomery and become familiar with the town. I was
unknown there and should remain so, only taking a letter to their legal
advisers, Watts, Judd & Jackson, whom I supposed would cheerfully
give me all the information in their power. I also informed them that it
would be necessary to detail more detectives to work up the case.
I found the officers of the company genial, pleasant men, possessed of
great executive ability and untiring energy, and felt that my duties
would be doubly agreeable by being in the interests of such men.
They ended the interview by authorizing me to employ what men I
thought proper; stating that they had full confidence in me, and that
they thought I would be enabled to unearth the guilty parties ere long.
They further authorized me to use my own judgment in all things; but
expected me to keep them fully informed of what was going on.
I started for Montgomery the same day, but was as unfortunate in
meeting with delay as were my detectives. The rivers were filled with
floating ice and I was ice-bound in the Potomac for over thirty hours. I
was obliged to go back to Alexandria, where I took the train and
proceeded, via West Point and Atlanta, to Montgomery. On the journey
I amused myself reading Martin Chuzzlewit, which I took good care to
throw away on the road, as its cuts at slavery made it unpopular in the
South. At the various stations planters got aboard, sometimes
conveying their slaves from point to point, sometimes travelling with
their families to neighboring cities. I did not converse with them, as I
was not sure of my ability to refrain from divulging my abolition

sentiments. On my arrival in Montgomery I took up my quarters at the
Exchange and impressed upon Mr. Floyd the necessity of keeping my
presence a secret. He had no idea that I was after Maroney, but
supposed I was merely on a visit to the South.
I took no notice of Maroney, but managed to see Porter and Roch
privately. They informed me that they had discovered little or nothing.
Maroney kept everything to himself. He and his wife went out
occasionally. He frequented Patterson's, sometimes going into the card
rooms, drove out with a fast horse, and passed many hours in his
counsel's office. This was all Porter knew.
Roch was to do nothing but "spot" the suspected parties and follow any
one of them who might leave town. He was to be a Dutchman, and he
acted the character to perfection. He could be seen sitting outside of his
boarding-house with his pipe in his mouth, and he apparently did
nothing but puff, puff, puff all day long. There was a saloon in town
where lager was sold and he could, occasionally, be found here sipping
his lager; but although apparently a stupid, phlegmatic man, taking no
notice of what was going on around him, he drank in, with his lager,
every word that was said.
I found that Mrs. Maroney was a very smart woman, indeed, and that it
would be necessary to keep a strict watch over her. I therefore informed
the Vice-President that I would send down another detective especially
to shadow her, as she might leave at any moment for the North and take
the forty thousand dollars with her.
I had no objections to her taking the money to the North. On the
contrary, I preferred she should do so, as I would much rather carry on
the fight on Northern soil than in the South.
I found Messrs. Watts, Judd & Jackson, the