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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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