CONTENTS.
THE CRIME.
PAGE
The Arrival in South Norwalk.—The Purchase of the Farm.—A Miser's Peculiarities, and the Villagers' Curiosity17
William Bucholz.—Life at Roton Hill.—A Visit to New York City30
An Alarm at the Farm House.—The Dreadful Announcement of William Bucholz.—The Finding of the Murdered Man39
The Excitement in the Village.—The Coroner's Investigation.—The Secret Ambuscade47
The Hearing Before the Coroner.—Romantic Rumors and Vague Suspicions.—An Unexpected Telegram.—Bucholz Suspected56
The Miser's Wealth.—Over Fifty Thousand Dollars Stolen from the Murdered Man.—A Strange Financial Transaction.—A Verdict, and the Arrest of Bucholz67
Bucholz in Prison.—Extravagant Habits, and Suspicious Expenditures.—The German Consul Interests Himself.—Bucholz Committed78
My Agency is Employed.—The Work of Detection Begun87
THE HISTORY.
Dortmund.—Railroad Enterprise and Prospective Fortune.—Henry Schulte's Love.—An Insult and Its Resentment.—An Oath of Revenge93
A Curse, and Plans of Vengeance109
A Moonlight Walk.—An Unexpected Meeting.—The Murder of Emerence Bauer.—The Oath Fulfilled115
The Search for the Missing Girl.—The Lover's Judgment.—Henry Schulte's Grief.—The Genial Farmer Becomes the Grasping Miser122
Henry Schulte becomes the Owner of "Alten-Hagen."—Surprising Increase in Wealth.—An Imagined Attack Upon His Life.—The Miser Determines to Sail for America131
The Arrival in New York.—Frank Bruner Determines to Leave the Service of His Master.—The Meeting of Frank Bruner and William Bucholz148
A History of William Bucholz.—An Abused Aunt who Disappoints His Hopes.—A Change of Fortune.—The Soldier becomes a Farmer.—The Voyage to New York157
Frank Leaves the Service of His Master.—A Bowery Concert Saloon.—The Departure of Henry Schulte.—William Bucholz Enters the Employ of the Old Gentleman166
THE DETECTION.
The Detective.—His Experience, and His Practice.—A Plan of Detection Perfected.—The Work is Begun.177
A Detective Reminiscence.—An Operation in Bridgeport in 1866.—The Adams Express Robbery.—A Half Million of Dollars Stolen.—Capture of the Thieves.—One of the Principals Turns State's Evidence.—Conviction and Punishment185
The Jail at Bridgeport.—An Important Arrest.—Bucholz Finds a Friend.—A Suspicious Character who Watches and Listens.—Bucholz Relates his Story205
Bucholz Passes a Sleepless Night.—An Important Discovery.—The Finding of the Watch of the Murdered Man.—Edward Sommers Consoles the Distressed Prisoner218
A Romantic Theory Dissipated.—The Fair Clara Becomes communicative.—An Interview with the Bar Keeper of the "Crescent Hotel"226
Sommers Suggests a Doubt of Bucholz's Innocence.—He Employs Bucholz's Counsel to Effect his Release.—A Visit from the State's Attorney.—A Difficulty, and an Estrangement233
The Reconciliation.—Bucholz makes an Important Revelation.—Sommers Obtains his Liberty and Leaves the Jail244
Sommers Returns to Bridgeport.—An Interview with Mr. Bollman.—Sommers Allays the Suspicions of Bucholz's Attorney, and Engages Him as his Own Counsel252
Sommers' Visit to South Norwalk.—He Makes the Acquaintance of Sadie Waring.—A Successful Ruse.—Bucholz Confides to his Friend the Hiding Place of the Murdered Man's Money260
Edward Sommers as "The Detective."—A Visit to the Barn, and Part of the Money Recovered.—The Detective makes Advances to the Counsel for the Prisoner.—A Further Confidence of an Important Nature270
A Midnight Visit to the Barn.—The Detective Wields a Shovel to Some Advantage.—Fifty Thousand Dollars Found in the Earth.—A Good Night's Work284
The Detective Manufactures Evidence for the Defense.—An Anonymous Letter.—An Important Interview.—The Detective Triumphs Over the Attorney295
Bucholz Grows Skeptical and Doubtful.—A fruitless Search.—The Murderer Involuntarily Reveals Himself309
THE JUDGMENT.
The Trial.—An Unexpected Witness.—A Convincing Story.—An Able but Fruitless Defense.—A Verdict of Guilty.—The Triumph of Justice319
Another Chance for Life.—The Third Trial Granted.—A Final Verdict, and a Just Punishment338