Finally he turned upon me and, in an over-bearing, bull-dozing manner, said, “What is all this trouble about? Don’t you expect to pay your attorney after you have hired him?” I was angry at his insolent manner, and at once told him that I would have no words with him. If they wished to receive $500 for their services (reminding him that had it not been for my presence in Philadelphia they would not have collected the claim, as he had shown so very little tact in treating with the company—so much so that they had been twice upon the point of ordering him from their offices) then that amount could be deducted, but no more.
He then said, “I will allow no man to come into my office and dictate to me in regard to a fee after the work has been done for him, and as for $500 it is an insult to offer it.” I then reminded him that I was not making it as an offer to him, one of the most prominent lawyers of St. Louis, but to his partner, a recent law graduate, to whom a $500 fee would be a large one, inasmuch as his expenses upon the trip had been elaborately provided for.
He said, “Well, we will take $3,000 for this work and nothing less.” I replied, “It cannot be paid.”
He said, “Then there is no further use for us to discuss the matter.” Turning to his partner, he then said, “Go to the bank and get a New York draft for what you have left; I am going to return the money.” I said, “Very well, sir, nothing could be more to my advantage than this, and upon Mrs. Pitezel receiving the money direct from the company I shall tender to you your fee of $500.”
He replied, “You will never have a chance to do this; when the money is sent back I shall at the same time write a letter to my old friend, Captain Linden of the Philadelphia Police Department, stating that since my return we have found out that the claim is crooked and cannot handle such money, and that we think it our duty to aid him by placing him in immediate possession of all the facts pertaining to the matter; moreover, you are wanted in Fort Worth, Texas, and I shall at once cause your arrest before you can leave the city.”
I replied, “You could only cause me trouble in regard to the insurance matter at the cost of your partner’s disgrace.” He said, “It is not so; it would be the word of our firm, which is well known throughout the country, against your single statement, and you a man that has already been under arrest once and will be again inside of an hour.” This so angered me that I said, “You can send back the money, you can arrest me, but you cannot intimidate or browbeat me. I will spend ten years in the penitentiary before giving in to you now.”
Upon this I left the office. Mrs. Pitezel was seated in the outer room, having come in in the meantime. I asked her to come at once to Judge Harvey’s office, and upon her hesitating to do so, when he asked her to remain a moment, I told her to make no settlement that involved a greater reduction than $500 from the amount the company had paid. Upon my doing this I left the office, and waited a long time for Mrs. Pitezel; and when she met me she was in tears and said that they would not let her leave the office until she allowed them to deduct $2,500 from the insurance money, and that she had also signed a long typewritten agreement of some kind. She then had the remainder of the money, about $6,000, with her, the lawyers having previously paid some bills upon her giving them a written order to do so.
Some days previous to this I had made arrangements that the amount of money to be used at Fort Worth should be paid at a bank at St. Louis in exchange for a note her husband had executed while there.[5] Mrs. Pitezel went to the bank and lifted this note, and of the balance gave me $225 for my expenses, as she supposed. As a matter of fact, the $5,000 thus paid upon the note came to me, I having months before had to satisfy the claim by the use of other property. That afternoon, some time later, I left St. Louis, intending to return to Cincinnati and complete the arrangements there for the home of the Pitezel family. Before leaving St. Louis, however, I arranged that Mrs. Pitezel and the two other children should go to Galva, Ill., upon their intended visit to Mrs. Pitezel’s mother, and also made private arrangements to be informed of any movements that should be made by the attorneys detrimental to my interests.
Upon my returning to Indianapolis I found that both the children were apparently enjoying themselves. Hatch had received a letter from Miss Williams (to whom he claimed he was married) asking that we both meet her in Detroit. This meeting was delayed, as I had some more real estate work to do in Indianapolis which had been neglected, owing to the insurance work. While attending to this work I received word that the attorneys were intending to make trouble for me, and almost at the same time word came from Chicago that some Fort Worth detectives were again there, and had heard of my being in Cincinnati, Indianapolis and St. Louis.
After consulting with Hatch, who was very much worried lest if I were arrested it would implicate him as being with me, and perhaps Miss Williams as well, we concluded that we should go away at once. Finally I decided to abandon the Cincinnati house, and have the Pitezel family locate elsewhere, as the attorneys knew of my former trips to that city. I therefore wrote Mrs. Pitezel at Galva, advising her to change her plans and go to Detroit.