I instructed Harbaugh to go to Kansas City and get in touch with the crooked lawyer, which he did. I selected a man whom I knew well and believed to be honest. I instructed him as to what I wanted him to do, and in due time he was introduced to the Kansas City lawyer, by Harbaugh. The lawyer began instructing him and gave him a minute description of the deceased Stephen B. Miles, whom, of course, this man had never seen. He posted him as to a room in the old St. James Hotel that had been occupied by Stephen B. Miles in one of his trips to St. Louis. This was the place where the fake will was supposed to have been written. The lawyer was pleased with the man I had sent and feasted and dined him on several occasions when he was in Kansas City rehearsing the part he was to play in the conspiracy.
In the meantime Harbaugh had grown to be the apple of the crooked lawyer's eye, and from the good treatment he received from this creature Harbaugh had begun to admire him for his liberality.
At last a day was set for the taking of the deposition of the man who was supposed to have written the will. Due notice was served on the respective parties interested, and at the appointed time our man appeared at the office of the St. Louis attorney, and the taking of his deposition began. After being duly sworn, the St. Louis representative of the conspirators began to examine the witness in the usual way, asking a few preliminary questions, and at last reached the question, "Did you know Stephen B. Miles, deceased, and did you not write this will for him?" indicating a paper he had in his hand.
The witness said, "I have known a number of men by the name of Miles. Allow me to describe one of them and if his description suits I will be able to answer your question."
I had previously requested Mr. Miles' attorneys to let the St. Louis lawyer do all the questioning and examining, and not to object to any question that he might put to the witness, unless it was entirely out of reason. Therefore, they merely sat still, carefully noting everything and objecting to nothing.
Of course, the conspirators were anxious to get a strong deposition from the witness, and, therefore, he was permitted to describe the man Miles, for whom he was supposed to have written the will. The St. Louis attorney kept nodding approval to his fine description of the dead man. When he had fully described Mr. Stephen B. Miles to the satisfaction of the conspirators, he took the purported will and examined it carefully, saying, "The handwriting on that document looks like my handwriting, but (in a loud, clear voice) I did not write this or any other will for Mr. Stephen B. Miles, or any other person. I have never met the man Stephen B. Miles, nor the man that I have just described. I was instructed to give the description that I have given here by these lawyers (pointing to the St. Louis and Kansas City lawyers, who were both present) and I was expected by them to testify that I had written this will, and I was promised five thousand dollars if I would."
The reader can easily imagine the consternation that reigned among the conspirators at this testimony from the one they trusted would be their star witness. Our man left the stand and the further taking of testimony was discontinued, it is needless to add.
Mr. Miles and his attorneys believed that these conspirators had ceased their efforts for a time, but later on they produced another man whom they claimed had written the second will for Stephen B. Miles. He was a young man, also a lawyer, and had at one time lived in St. Louis for a short time, married there, and had gone to Old Mexico. He was discovered in Mexico by the Kansas City outfit and induced to come back to Chicago, Illinois, where his deposition was taken. He claimed to have written the will for an old man in St. Louis, but he was either afraid to describe him or could not do so, therefore his testimony was worthless.
The conspirators continued to try to break the original will until it was finally pronounced legal and valid by the Supreme Court of Nebraska, and Joseph H. Miles' rights were thoroughly and legally established.