865
On the other hand, without first sending a trained cross-
examiner to Clyde—one, who being about to undertake the
defense should be able to extract the facts from him on the
plea that on his truthful answers depended his life—he
would not be able to say whether there was any hope or
not. In his office was a certain Mr. Catchuman, a very able
man, who might be sent on such a mission and on whose
final report one could base a reasonable opinion. However,
there were now various other aspects of such a case as this
which, in his estimation, needed to be carefully looked into
and decided upon. For, of course, as Mr. Griffiths and his
son so well knew, in Utica, New York City, Albany (and now
that he came to think of it, more particularly in Albany,
where were two brothers, Canavan & Canavan, most able if
dubious individuals), there were criminal lawyers deeply
versed in the abstrusities and tricks of the criminal law. And
any of them—no doubt—for a sufficient retainer, and
irrespective of the primary look of a situation of this kind,
might be induced to undertake such a defense. And, no
doubt, via change of venue, motions, appeals, etc., they
might and no doubt would be able to delay and eventually
effect an ultimate verdict of something less than death, if
such were the wish of the head of this very important
family. On the other hand, there was the undeniable fact
that such a hotly contested trial as this would most
assuredly prove to be would result in an enormous amount
of publicity, and did Mr. Samuel Griffiths want that? For
again, under such circumstances, was it not likely to be
said, if most unjustly, of course, that he was using his great
wealth to frustrate justice? The public was so prejudiced
against wealth in such cases. Yet, some sort of a defense
on the part of the Griffiths would certainly be expected by
the public, whether subsequently the same necessity for
such defense was criticized by them or not.
An American Tragedy
866
And in consequence, it was now necessary for Mr. Griffiths
and his son to decide how they would prefer to proceed—
whether with very distinguished criminal lawyers such as
the two he had just named, or with less forceful counsel, or
none. For, of course, it would be possible, and that quite
inconspicuously, to supply Clyde with a capable and yet
thoroughly conservative trial lawyer—some one residing
and practising in Bridgeburg possibly—whose duty it would
be to see that all blatant and unjustified reference to the
family on the part of the newspapers was minimized.
And so, after three more hours of conference, it was finally
decided by Samuel himself that at once Mr. Brookhart was
to despatch his Mr. Catchuman to Bridgeburg to interview
Clyde, and thereafter, whatever his conclusions as to his
guilt or innocence, he was to select from the local array of
legal talent—for the present, anyhow—such a lawyer as
would best represent Clyde fairly. Yet with no assurances of
means or encouragement to do more than extract from
Clyde the true details of his relationship to this charge. And
those once ascertained to center upon such a defense as
would most honestly tend to establish only such facts as
were honestly favorable to Clyde—in short, in no way,
either by legal chicane or casuistry or trickery of any kind, to
seek to establish a false innocence and so defeat the ends
of justice.
An American Tragedy
867
Chapter 14
MR. CATCHUMAN did not prove by any means to be the one
to extract from Clyde anything more than had either Mason
or Smillie. Although shrewd to a degree in piecing together
out of the muddled statements of another such data as
seemed most probable, still he was not so successful in the
realm of the emotions, as was necessary in the case of
Clyde. He was too legal, chilling—unemotional. And in
consequence, after, grilling Clyde for four long hours one
hot July afternoon, he was eventually compelled to desist
with the feeling that as a plotter of crime Clyde was
probably the most arresting example of feeble and
blundering incapacity he had ever met.
For since Smillie’s departure Mason had proceeded to the
shores of Big Bittern with Clyde. And there discovered the
tripod and camera. Also listened to more of Clyde’s lies.
And as he now explained to Catchuman that, while Clyde
denied owning a camera, nevertheless he had proof that he
did own one and had taken it with him when he left
Lycurgus. Yet when confronted with this fact by
Catchuman, as the latter now noticed, Clyde had nothing to
say other than that he had not taken a camera with him and
that the tripod found was not the one belonging to any
camera of his—a lie which so irritated Catchuman that he
decided not to argue with him further.
At the same time, however, Brookhart having instructed
him that, whatever his personal conclusions in regard to
Clyde, a lawyer of sorts was indispensable—the charity, if
An American Tragedy
868
not the honor, of the Griffiths being this much involved, the
western Griffiths, as Brookhart had already explained to
him, having nothing and not being wanted in the case
anyhow—he decided that he must find one before leaving.
In consequence, and without any knowledge of the local
political situation, he proceeded to the office of Ira Kellogg,
president of the Cataraqui County National Bank, who,
although Catchuman did not know it, was high in the
councils of the Democratic organization. And because of his
religious and moral views, this same Kellogg was already
highly incensed and irritated by the crime of which Clyde
was accused. On the other hand, however, because as he
well knew this case was likely to pave the way for an
additional Republican sweep at the approaching primaries,
he was not blind to the fact that some reducing opposition
to Mason might not be amiss. Fate seemed too obviously to
be favoring the Republican machine in the person of and
crime committed by Clyde.
For since the discovery of this murder, Mason had been
basking in such publicity and even nation-wide notoriety as
had not befallen any district attorney of this region in years
and years. Newspaper correspondents and reporters and
illustrators from such distant cities as Buffalo, Rochester,
Chicago, New York and Boston, were already arriving as
everybody knew or saw, to either interview or make
sketches or take photos of Clyde, Mason, the surviving
members of the Alden family, et cetera, while locally Mason
was the recipient of undiluted praise, even the Democratic
voters in the county joining with the Republicans in assuring
each other that Mason was all right, that he was handling
this young murderer in the way that he deserved to be
handled, and that neither the wealth of the Griffiths nor of
the family of that rich girl whom he appeared to have been
trying to capture, was influencing this young tribune of the
An American Tragedy
869
people in the least. He was a real attorney. He had not
“allowed any grass to grow under his feet, you bet.”
Indeed previous to Catchuman’s visit, a coroner’s jury had
been called, with Mason attending and directing even, the
verdict being that the dead girl had come to her death
through a plot devised and executed by one Clyde Griffiths
who was then and there in ‘the county jail of Bridgeburg
and that he be held to await the verdict of the County Grand
Jury to whom his crime was soon to be presented. And
Mason, through an appeal to the Governor, as all now knew
was planning to secure a special sitting of the Supreme
Court, which would naturally involve an immediate session
of the County Grand Jury in order to hear the evidence and
either indict or discharge Clyde. And now, Catchuman
arriving to inquire where he was likely to find a local lawyer
of real ability who could be trusted to erect some sort of a
defense for Clyde. And immediately as an offset to all this
there popped into Kellogg’s mind the name and reputation
of one Hon. Alvin Belknap, of Belknap and Jephson, of this
same city—an individual who had been twice state senator,
three times Democratic assemblyman from this region, and
more recently looked upon by various Democratic
politicians as one who would be favored with higher honors
as soon as it was possible to arrange an issue which would
permit the Democrats to enter into local office. In fact, only
three years before, in a contest with Mason for the district
attorneyship, this same Belknap had run closer to victory
than any other candidate on the Democratic ticket. Indeed,
so rounded a man was he politically that this year he had
been slated for that very county judgeship nomination
which Mason had in view. And but for this sudden and most