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| Chapter 12- The
Absolutely, Positively, Last Trip to New
Jersey |
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| "You know, if you wanted to move to New Jersey,
you should have just said so," Barbara remarked as we headed, once
more, up I-95. |
| " Well, maybe my next book can be about someone
who lived in Miami. But for now, there is still some good info to be
gained from checking out the collection of Pardon
Grandson." |
| "Not to mention the comic
book." |
| Gulf War 2 had begun several days before and we
brought a portable TV along to keep up with events. After all, there
were some things even more important to the world than who kidnapped
the Lindbergh baby. |
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| Florence, New Jersey is a small river town a few
miles southeast of Trenton. No doubt people who commute to the
capitol from there get to see the "Trenton Makes, the World Takes "
sign every bloody day of their working lives. Anyway, we soon found
the home of Pardon Grandson and he and his wife greeted us warmly. I
presented him with the box of newspapers from the house on Garden
Street and he showed us his collection. It seemed his late Aunt
Mildred (the one whose name is on the headstone along with Ellis and
wife Cora) had actually accumulated the material years before. She
had been in the habit of snapping up and saving any article or
material involving her father and it was a good thing she had,
because much of it would have no doubt been long gone by this
time. |
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| He had obviously gone to some trouble for our
visit. He had copies ready of all the more interesting items in the
collection, including the fabled comic book. The comic book related
Parker`s investigation of the murder of William Giberson in 1922, a
case in which he had deduced that Ivy Giberson, the victim`s wife,
was the killer in spite of her claim of being tied up by intruders.
The comic`s version was reasonably accurate, except in the depiction
of Ivy Giberson herself. The real life murderer (there is a photo in
The Cunning Mulatto) looked like an old spinster schoolmarm or maybe
the town librarian. The comic book Ivy Giberson looked like a Las
Vegas chorus girl. They got Ellis Parker down pretty well, though;
right down to his home spun appearance and his ever present
pipe. |
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| Pardon Grandson also had a copy of the program
from a dinner held for the Old Chief in 1935, complete with
tributes, poems and jokes. He told us he had spoken to an attorney
and to several more elected representatives about the pardon and was
optimistic. On the way out, he showed us Uncle Eddie`s shovel, which
he had gotten from the folks at the Garden Street house. When I
asked about Uncle Eddie, he confirmed what Website Grandson had
already told me: the last surviving son of Ellis Parker did not wish
to talk about his father or of any of the events of the 1930s. These
were unhappy memories and he had no wish to relive them. Too bad, I
thought. He was one of the few surviving prime sources. Still, if he
didn`t want to talk, I had to respect his wishes. |
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| We had a long talk, comparing notes and
exchanging information. I had no idea how good his chances for
obtaining a pardon might be, but thought it was certainly worth a
try. Finally, we left, promising to keep in touch. We passed by Mt.
Holly on the way back, but this time we didn`t
stop. |
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| A few weeks later, we finally got to see the
Powerpoint presentation a local prosecutor had prepared on the case.
The occasion was a meeting of the Inns of Court, an organization of
judges and attorneys in Columbia Maryland. Columbia is a planned
community and has miles of newly built houses laid out among streets
with names like Hobbits Glen, First Light Hill, and Tree Hugger
Trail. (All right; I made that last one up, but you get the idea.)
So it was a surprise to find the meeting was held in an old mansion
smack in the middle of all this newly constructed ambiance. The
place had been restored to its 18th
century elegance. The prosecutor, you may recall, had worked up this
presentation originally to demonstrate the use of computer
technology in closing arguments. He picked the Lindbergh case
because it was well known. |
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| There on the screen was the parade of damning
evidence against Hauptmann. There was the ransom money in the
garage; there was the handwriting analysis of the ransom notes;
there was the kidnap ladder and the wood traced to Hauptmann`s
attic; there was Hauptmann`s bank accounts with no employment but
expensive purchases after the ransom was paid. True, it was all
circumstantial, but there sure was a lot of it. Of course a good
defense lawyer who knew his way around Powerpoint could have don an
equally compelling job for the defense, but it was impressive. If a
vote had been taken of the assembled legal luminaries, Hauptmann
would have been convicted all over again. Strangely, however, I
really didn`t learn anything new. I had seen it all before, just not
in such a slick format. |
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| You never know where each piece of an
investigation will lead. From a reader of my website I got the name
and phone number of Governor Hoffman`s daughter. Hoffman was a key
player in the affair because he supported Parker and even refused
extradition on his behalf at one point. He also got in big political
trouble by reopening the investigation and delaying Hauptmann`s
execution. His daughter was of interest because she had found the
governor`s files in his garage after he died and had sent them to
the archives of the NJ State Police Museum. She lives in Wisconsin
now and, when I called, had just returned from a 40 hour train trip
from Seattle. To give her time to unpack, I called back the next
night. |
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| She was a friendly enthusiastic woman who
recalled meeting all the big names in the case; the governor, Mrs,
Hauptmann, Anna Bading, Gus Lockwood, and Ellis Parker himself. Gus
Lockwood, who had worked as Parker`s deputy and helped to guard
Parker`s suspect, once took her to Asbury Park to ride the Ferris
wheel. She had an especially warm spot for Ellis Parker, saying he
was such a fascinating character and that her father had always
admired and respected him. Strangely, she said her father seldom
talked about Parker after Parker died; it was simply too painful for
him. She provided some more information and promised to search her
files to see what else she could turn up. |
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| By now I had a large briefcase full of Parker
documents, arranged by year. In addition, I had a pile of
handwritten notes. I was beginning to come to some conclusions about
Parker and his actions. For one thing, it looked like the suspect
had given Parker plenty of reason to suspect him, dropping hints and
passing along inside information about the crime. Exactly why he did
was beginning to make sense to me, as was Parker`s reaction. There
were so many people involved and they each had their own agenda. It
was looking like a tale of intrigue, politics, personal ambition,
jealousy, bureaucratic infighting, and publicity. The Ellis Parker I
discovered was not a saint and not a cynical self-serving cop
abusing his authority. He was a family man, an outgoing good
neighbor, and a colorful figure out of a bygone age. Ellis Parker
worked ceaselessly in the cause of justice for 40 years. In his
pursuit of the guilty, he sometimes stepped over the line, but it
always came out right in the end. |
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| Except once. |
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| And so the American Sherlock Holmes, the
greatest detective of his age, met his downfall. All the work, all
the detection, all the arrests, and all the tireless police work was
forgotten. The man who should have become a legend became simply a
curiosity, an unpleasant footnote to the Lindbergh affair. In Mt.
Holly where he reigned as the undisputed local hero, few people
today have even heard of him. There are no plaques, no markers, and
no statues, nothing to remind you of the remarkable man who once
walked down those streets as people called out "Hiya, Ellis!" and
wondered what spectacular case he would solve
next. |
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| My research has covered all of Ellis Parker`s
long career. Some of what I found earlier has been disproved by what
I found later. Some was reinforced. I am optimistic by now, thinking
I have come as close to finding the truth about Ellis Parker as
anyone ever has. I have turned up nooks and crannies of his life
unknown even to his supporters and relatives. I hope the book will
clear up some of the mystery and give some long overdue recognition
to both the triumphs and the failures of this enigmatic
man. |
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The bulk of my research is just about finished;
now I just need to follow a few more leads and tie up a few more
loose ends. I have had some fun talking about some of the people I
contacted, but most of them have responded generously with their
time and their knowledge. Without their help, no book could have
been written. Now that I`ve put it all together, there are the
refinements, rewrites and occasional additional details to complete,
but the first draft of the book is mostly done. My search for Ellis
Parker and the second Lindbergh kidnapping is just about finished.
The search was long, confusing and twisted, but fascinating. I hope
you have enjoyed it as much as I
have.
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Postscript:
The book
was published by Citadel Press in 2006 as Master Detective: The Life
and Crimes of Ellis Parker, America's Real-Life Sherlock Holmes. In
2007 Master Detective came out in paperback and in 2008, publishing
rights were licensed to the Goodness Publishing Company in Taiwan.
In 2009 publishing rights were licensed to the Chongqing Publishing
Company on Chongqing, PRC. The Taiwanese edition was published in
2010.
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| Look for |
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| MASTER DETECTIVE: |
| The Life and Crimes of Ellis
Parker, |
| America's Real-Life Sherlock
Holmes |
| By John
Reisinger |
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