"The whole power of the county is at your disposal. Employ your resources, use the power invested in you without fear or favor, and the result cannot be uncertain. You will now retire to the jury room and make your own arrangements for the transaction of the business for which you have been called together."
At the conclusion of this address the grand jury retired, in charge of Bailiff Hamilton. An organization was quickly effected, and soon the twenty-three men were at work, with the assistance of State's Attorney Longenecker and his assistant, Jampolis. Acting Captain Schuettler was also called in, and from these officials the body received an outline of the case, very much from the same material which came before the coroner's jury, with the exception that the State's Attorney had prepared a connected narrative that, step by step, was to be corroborated by witnesses. At each of the stairways leading to the floor where the grand jury quarters were located bailiffs were stationed, and none but grand jurors and witnesses were permitted to pass.
THE GRAND JURY'S INQUIRY.
Beginning with the testimony of Mrs. Conklin, the liveryman Dinan, the furniture salesmen, and the agents of the Clark street flat,
OFFICER BROWN. the Grand Jury traced the movements of the murderers, step by step. Daniel Brown, the police officer attached to the Stanton avenue station, and who had preferred the charges of treason against Dr. Cronin in a camp of the Clan-na-gael, was subjected to an exhaustive examination. He was kept on the stand for nearly two hours, and was not permitted to refuse to answer questions, or to avoid answering by saying that he did not recollect, or that he had forgotten. He was closely questioned concerning his connection with the order and his reasons for preferring the charge against the physician.
Another witness was Thomas G. Windes, the law partner of Alexander Sullivan, and at that time a Master in Chancery of the Circuit Court. He told the jury that he knew absolutely nothing about the check for $99,000, drawn in favor of Windes & Co., and which had been deposited in the Traders' Bank to the credit of Alexander Sullivan. In fact he had never even seen the check. When questioned by the State's Attorney, he said without hesitation, that he had seen Detective Coughlin at the office of Alexander Sullivan at least six or seven times at different periods preceding the murder, and that they seemed to be quite intimate.
Corroborative testimony was given by Henry Brown, a clerk in Sullivan's office. On the fifth day of the investigation an indictment was found against Martin Burke, in order that the record upon which his extradition from Winnipeg was sought should be complete. The speculations of Alexander Sullivan on the Board of Trade, his relations with the Clan-na-gael, and the alleged misappropriation of funds, were investigated at length. Incidentally, Frank B. Johnson, confidential clerk of John T. Lester & Co., told of a speculation which he had engineered for Sullivan in 1882. In that year Sullivan, upon a "tip" from Johnson, purchased 200 shares of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad stock, putting up several thousand dollars as margin. The transaction lasted for some time, and in the end Sullivan's gains amounted to $50,000, out of which he made Johnson a present of $5,000. This, while interesting, was not material to the purpose of the investigation. Rev. Father Dorney was another witness, but, although closely questioned, he told nothing of importance. The indictment against Burke was returned into Judge Shepherd's court, on June 19th. There were two counts, one charging him with the murder of Dr. Cronin by means and weapons to the jury unknown, and abetted and aided by persons unknown, while the other charged him, under the name of Burke, otherwise known as Martin Delaney, otherwise known as Frank Williams, with conspiring with certain other unknown persons to murder the physician. The names of fifty witnesses were on the back of the indictment. Mortimer F. Scanlan told a lengthy story regarding the enmity toward Dr. Cronin that existed in Chicago, and which was fomented by a faction of the camp to which Coughlin belonged. He also said that the physician carried important papers regarding the alleged embezzlement of Clan-na-gael funds, either in his inside pocket or in his instrument case, about the time of his death.
PAT COONEY UNDER SUSPICION.
Just about this time the police began an active search for a man named Pat Cooney, better known to his associates by the sobriquet of "the Fox," and who answered in every particular to the description given of the man Simonds, who had purchased the furniture from the Revells and had rented the flat on Clark street. He was a bricklayer by trade, and had come from the west of Ireland, somewhere in the same region from which Burke hailed. Some time prior to the murder he had been a boon friend and companion of Coughlin and Burke, and had been frequently heard to denounce Dr. Cronin as a British spy. He commenced to drink steadily during the week following the physician's disappearance, and although not working, had an abundance of money. The police authorities were satisfied that Cooney was the man they wanted, but a thorough search of the city resulted in the discovery that he had left for parts unknown. Detectives were sent to several points where men answering to his description had been shadowed by the authorities, but their labors were without result. A man supposed to be "The Fox" was arrested at Frankfort, Indiana, on June 23d, but proved to be an entirely different individual. The search was continued for months, and finally it was concluded that Cooney had left the country.