The mail messengers employed to convey the mails to and from the several railroad depots at central points, were carefully looked after, but all appeared right among them. And as for the post-offices, there were not more than two out of all affected by the numerous losses, through which half a dozen of the lost letters would have passed.
There was however, one man who had not thus far been included in the investigation, chiefly because in the discharge of his ordinary duties as baggage-master, at a central station or junction where mail carriers were provided by the rail road companies, he was not supposed to have even a temporary charge of any of the mails. But while watching one of the mail carriers on a certain evening, as he was conveying a number of mails from a city post-office to the cars, the Agent observed him placing them in charge of the aforesaid baggage-master, prior to the arrival of the train by which they were to be forwarded.
After they had thus been committed to his custody, he was seen to throw them carelessly into his baggage room, and enter the room, closing the door behind him. After a lapse of several minutes, he came out, piled the bags upon a barrow or baggage truck, and wheeled them to a point upon the platform, opposite which the approaching train was to stop. The unnecessary operation of placing the bags in the room, when the train was nearly or quite due, was a very suspicious circumstance, especially when taken in connection with the other movements of the baggage-master, and by means of the telegraph the post master of a neighboring city was requested to be present at the opening of that mail, to see whether certain letter packages arrived which were known to have been in the through mail pouch for his office that evening. The reply was, "opened mail myself, no letters for this delivery."
An hour and a half had now passed since the train had left, and if the mails had been rifled in the baggage room, sufficient time had been afforded the robber to have concealed or destroyed all the direct proof of his guilt upon this occasion. Hence no open action was then taken in view of the discoveries made. Besides, there was too much at stake to warrant the incurring of any risk on the strength of these facts.