"What's up?" I asked, "Mac, what do you mean?"
"Why, Billy Reedy came into my office a little while ago and suggested that I pick out the right kind of a fellow and have him locked up in jail so that he might work on Maxwell," he said.
"Is that all Reedy said?" I asked.
He then went on and detailed as nearly as he could recollect just what Reedy had said. I asked him what he had said to Reedy and he told me. I then said, "Do you think that Reedy noticed your excitement when he made the suggestion to you?"
"No, he could not have," he replied, "I was not excited, I never get excited."
"You were excited when you came in here, and if Billy Reedy noticed it when he made that suggestion it might set him to thinking, and inasmuch as you did not take kindly to the suggestion, he might possibly make the suggestion to Chief Harrigan," I said.
"Oh, no," replied Mac, "Billy would not make any suggestions to the chief. He is my friend and I appreciate the feeling that prompted him to make the suggestion, but confound it, I wish he had not thought of it."
I said, "Mac, we know that Billy Reedy is a bright young fellow, and a great news gatherer, and a loyal friend of yours. I do not believe he will say anything more about it, and now I think the best thing to do is to quietly await developments."
My advice was followed, and I do not believe that William Marion Reedy, who is now proprietor and editor of the St. Louis Mirror, has ever known just how much that friendly suggestion of his worried his friend Marshall F. McDonald. I have told in my story how McCulloch remained in jail and got the facts from Maxwell, and our scheme was not spoiled by Mr. Reedy's suggestion, for he never repeated it to any other person.
The testimony at the trial was overwhelming against Maxwell, and the jury before whom this case was tried quickly returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, and Hugh M. Brookes, alias Maxwell, was hung for one of the most cold-blooded murders of the age.