Mrs. Sherlock Holmes

by Brad Ricca

  he found substantiation (p. 210): “Cocchi Attempts to End Life,” New York Sun, June 25, 1917, 5.

  “you to say anything” (p. 210): “Police in Row,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 19, 1917, 1.

  “detective searching for her” (p. 210): “Sensation over Attack,” Kingston Daily Freeman, June 19, 1917, 6.

  ransacked apartment (p. 210): “Try to Murder,” Evening News, June 19, 1917, 1; “Mayor Defends Woods,” New York Times, June 22, 1917, 3.

  La Rue told police (p. 211): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephen, “The Inside Story of the Ruth Cruger Case,” True Detective, May 1926; “Mrs. La Rue Tells of Drug and Kidnappers,” New York Times, June 26, 1917, 3. Elements of the Stephens story seem overly imaginative: Kron claims to board the boat to Argentina to follow another of the count’s victims. Over the course of a three-week trip to Buenos Aires, Kron recognizes a fellow female detective who helps him stop the slavery operation.

  if she tried to escape (p. 211): “Death Threat for Girl,” Pittsburgh Press, June 21, 1917, 1; “La Rue Mystery Is Likened to Fiction of East,” New York Daily Herald, August 5, 1917, 3. New Yorkers read this in the paper and thought of Mata Hari, who had just been put on trial for being a German spy after being arrested on February 13, the same night Ruth Cruger disappeared.

  “nothing more to say to you” (p. 211): “Police in Row,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 19, 1917, 1.

  against injury or intimidation (p. 211): “Cruger Demands,” New York Times, June 21, 1917, 1.

  on guard at all times (p. 211): “Two Policemen at the Bedside,” New York Herald, June 21, 1917, 3; “Another Girl Escapes Fate,” Pittsburgh Daily Post, June 20, 1917, 7; “Mayor Defends Woods,” New York Times, June 22, 1917, 3.

  Camorra ties (p. 212): “Sensation over Attack,” Kingston Daily Freeman, June 19, 1917, 6.

  stuffed in a barrel (p. 212): “Barrel Murder Mystery,” New York Times, April 20, 1903; David Critchley, The Origin of Organized Crime, New York: Routledge, 2009. The Camorra supposedly began at a three-man card game under a tree in Seville. When one of the men lost, badly, he pulled a knife. But one of the other men said that blood must be conserved among brothers, not shed. The men made a pact, kissed and embraced, and went their separate ways. Thus the Camorra was born, under the tree of knowledge.

  “two more girls may be killed” (p. 212): “Girl Charges Men,” New-York Tribune, June 20, 1917, 16.

  “have been for nothing” (p. 213): Julius J. Kron with Isabel Stephens, “My Encounter with a White-Slave Ring,” Mysterious Crimes, New York: True Story, 1934, 147.

  “to make things hum” (p. 213): “Personal and Impersonal,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 20, 1917, 6.

  “memorial to Ruth Cruger” (p. 213): “Two Policemen at the Bedside,” New York Herald, June 21, 1917, 3.

  “save her honor” (p. 213): “Popular Fund Urged,” New York Evening World, June 20, 1917, 1; “His Statue Memorial,” Indiana Gazette, July 11, 1917, 12; “Cruger Memorial,” New-York Tribune, June 24, 1917, 6. By July, Onorio Ruotolo, an Italian sculptor, had begun work on a monument to Ruth depicting a figure being threatened by a coiled serpent. “I could not bring the child back to life, but I could make the memorial to show the father that the great bulk of the kindly Italian people feel his suffering,” said Ruotolo.

  “is steadily improving” (p. 214): “Light on Cocchi’s Relations,” New York Evening World, June 21, 1917.

  “passing the buck” (p. 214): “Cruger Record,” New York Sun, June 28, 1917, 1.

  spots of human blood (p. 215): “Blood Stains Convince,” New-York Tribune, June 22, 1917, 16; “Cocchi Indicted,” New-York Tribune, June 19, 1917, 14.

  “discovered and punished” (p. 215): “Cruger Case Brings Probe,” New-York Tribune, June 22, 1917, 16.

  “report was written on” (p. 215): “Cruger Demands Woods Removal,” New York Times, June 21, 1917, 1.

  “Very truly yours” (p. 216): New York Times, June 22, 1917, 3. The mayor to Henry Cruger: “Lamentable as is the failure of the police to succeed in your daughter’s case, it is clear that when one considers such a question as the success of a police administration, one must consider its whole history and record.”

  Ruth’s burial (p. 216): “Italy Asked to Seize,” New York Sun, June 19, 1917, 5; “Italian Indicted,” Durham Morning Herald, June 19, 1917, 8.

  stolen items (p. 217): “Another Mystery in Cruger Case,” Lima News, June 19, 1917, 1.

  13: THE POINTED FINGER

  Civic Fame (p. 218): “The Girl Higher Up,” Pittsburgh Press, March 9, 1913, 53; “The Girl Beneath the Gilding,” New York Times, December 9, 2007; James Bone, The Curse of Beauty, New York: Regan, 2016. Audrey Munson was the real model for this statue and many others.

  “no specific orders on it” (p. 220): “Capt. Cooper Details Work of His Staff,” New York Evening World, June 22, 1917, 2.

  premeditated act (p. 221): Inspector Faurot dug up cellars at 227 West Eighty-third Street, a former store of Cocchi’s, from early 1914 to November 1915. The detectives found a cache of old newspapers, including a morning paper dated February 16, 1917, detailing Ruth’s disappearance.

  “shielded by the police department” (p. 221): “Jealous Woman, Murdered Girl,” Chicago Daily Tribune, June 20, 1917, 13.

  “Take Care of Alfredo Cocchi” (p. 221): “Cooper Admits Bungling,” New-York Tribune, June 23, 1917, 1.

  “not keep away from women” (p. 222): “Wife of Cocchi Will Identify,” New York Evening World, June 25, 1.

  with the Children’s Society (p. 222): “Cocchi Indicted,” Democrat and Chronicle, June 19, 1917, 1.

  kind of grafting operation (p. 222): “Cooper Admits Bungling,” New-York Tribune, June 23, 1917, 1. Once inside the store, victims, through gritted teeth, would have to buy something innocuous, such as a monkey wrench, for an outlandish price. In return, Cocchi would tear up the ticket and share the profits with the cops who gave it in the first place. “These summonses, it appears,” said Swann, “were generally served on automobilists. The summoned autoist was directed to go to such-and-such an address, of Cocchi or someone else. When the autoist got there he was shown newspaper clippings quoting Magistrate House on what he expected to do with the next speeders.” The summons were written in pencil so that they could be used multiple times.

  Cocchi’s knife (p. 222): “Cruger Case Brings,” New-York Tribune, June 22, 1917, 16.

  “ripper” (p. 223): “Ripper’s Mark Found,” New York Times, June 18, 1917, 1.

  “wise to do so” (p. 223): “Mrs. Humiston to Direct,” New York Evening World, June 18, 1917, 2.

  “cellar by Burns” (p. 224): “Mayor Defends Woods,” New York Times, June 22, 1917, 3. Burns had an illustrious career and would go on to be the first director of the Bureau of Investigation of the U.S. Department of Justice, the precursor to the FBI. J. Edgar Hoover was his successor. Burns also instituted the first national fingerprinting system.

  “off the case” (p. 224): “Cocchi Taken; Mayor Orders Police Probe,” New-York Tribune, June 22, 1917, 1. Burns Agency detective James Downing also helped in the investigation.

  She then got away (p. 224): “Police Shake-Up,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 22, 1917, 1.

  held on charge of murder (p. 224): Ibid.

  “return to my babies” (p. 225): “Wife Begs Cocchi,” New York Evening World, June 26, 1.

  baby was ill (p. 225): “More Police Stupidity,” New York Evening World, June 28, 1917, 2.

  Cocchi’s imprisonment (p. 225): “Cocchi Now in Dark Dungeon,” New York Evening World, June 30, 1917, 2.

  asked for a physician (p. 225): “Death Threat,” New York Times, July 3, 1917, 4.

  painting of St. Cecilia (p. 226): Antonio Forcellino and Lucinda Byatt, Raphael: A Passionate Life, Malden, MA: Polity, 2012, 195–98. The oil painting by Raphael shows Saint Cecilia contemplating the silent music of a choir of singing angels. The work now hangs in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna; Percy Byssh
e Shelley, Letters from Abroad, London: Edward Moxon, 1845, 116.

  “$100 a week” (p. 226): “Cocchi Declares Ruth Cruger,” New York Evening World, June 25, 1917, 2.

  “I didn’t mean to” (p. 227): Ibid.

  “some vital spot” (p. 227): “Cocchi Declares He Spent,” New York Evening World, June 26, 1917, 2.

  “the ninety-nine cases” (p. 228): “Priest Says Cocchi,” New York Sun, June 26, 1917, 4.

  called him “Al” (p. 228): Ibid.

  14: THE MAN WHO LAUGHS

  Alfredo Cocchi’s interrogation and confession is from “Slayer Committed Crime,” Evening World, June 23, 1917, 1; “Cocchi Acquits Police,” New York Times, July 28, 1917, 9; “Cocchi Admits,” New-York Tribune, June 24, 1917, 1; “Cocchi Tells How,” New York Times, June 26, 1917, 8. The timeline of when Cocchi said what is unclear, so I have reflected that in the narrative.

  “forget my trouble” (p. 229): “Spat with Wife; Wine and Murder,” Wichita Beacon, July 28, 1917, 4.

  “touching a hair of her head” (p. 230): “Cocchi Acquits Police,” New York Times, July 28, 1917, 9.

  “remembered my wife” (p. 230): “Aided, Cocchi Says,” New York Sun, June 26, 1917, 4.

  Cocchi attempts suicide (p. 231): “Cruger Slayer Tries Suicide,” New Castle Herald, June 25, 1917, 1.

  she had been detained (p. 231): “Mrs. Humiston to Direct,” New York Evening World, June 18, 1917, 2.

  “tell everything” (p. 231): “Cooper Admits Bungling,” New-York Tribune, June 23, 1917, 1.

  “to commit it” (p. 232): “Cocchi Tries Suicide,” Washington Post, June 25, 1917, 3.

  “She’s so jealous” (p. 232): “Aided, Cocchi Says,” New York Sun, June 26, 1917, 4.

  “privation and fright” (p. 233): “Cocchi a Gay,” Washington Post, June 26, 1917, 5.

  “attacks on children” (p. 233): “Bologna Authorities,” Santa Ana Register, June 26, 1917, 1.

  “ashamed to tell” (p. 233): “Cocchi Confesses to His Kinsman,” Wilmington Dispatch, July 3, 1917, 1.

  “degenerate by heredity” (p. 234): “Cocchi Describes Motor Shop,” Waco Morning News, June 24, 1917, 1.

  “whom I can serve” (p. 234): “Cocchi Confesses,” Lima News, June 23, 1917, 1.

  “I won’t see him” (p. 234): “Why Hire a Lawyer?” Independence Daily Reporter, June 28, 1917, 1.

  “in this uncertainty” (p. 234): “Question Priest,” New York Times, June 26, 1917, 3.

  plead insanity (p. 234): “Insanity the Cocchi Plea,” Middletown Times-Press, June 27, 1917, 1.

  woman slipped into Bologna (p. 234): “Cocchi Makes Full,” Washington Post, June 24, 1917, 6.

  drops of human blood (p. 236): “Ruth Cruger’s Murderer,” New-York Tribune, June 20, 1917, 16.

  “the first line” (p. 236): “Slayer Committed Crime,” New York Evening World, June 23, 1917, 1.

  “they had done it” (p. 236): Ruth Cruger’s Body,” New York Herald, July 11, 1917, 2.

  “just ordinary ‘cock-eye’” (p. 236): Logansport Pharos-Reporter, October 11, 1917, 4. The accepted pronunciation seems to be “KOH-Kee.”

  “I did it just as a joke” (p. 237): Ruth Cruger’s Body,” New York Herald, July 11, 1917, 2.

  “scenes of jealousy will end” (p. 237): “Aided, Cocchi Says,” New York Sun, June 26, 1917, 4.

  “my enemies in this country” (p. 238): Ibid.

  15: THE SLIDING NUMBER

  “strongly suspect you” (p. 240): “Record Is Altered,” New York Sun, June 28,1917, 5.

  Cocchi’s father, while visiting (p. 240): “Cocchi Secreted Here,” New York Sun, June 28, 1917, 5.

  refused to come out (p. 241): “Question Priest on Cocchi’s Tale,” New York Times, June 26, 1917. Grace and Kron said that they hired a woman detective in March to call Father Moretto to arrange an interview. She went to his house, but he wouldn’t answer the door; see chapter 11 of St. Raphael Society for Italian Immigrants, Center for Migration Studies, 2000, 229. Moretto had a long history of charges levied against him.

  “left the prison” (p. 242): “Cocchi Secreted Here,” New York Sun, June 28, 1917, 5.

  testimony of Lagarenne and McGee (pp. 242–43): “Wallstein Starts Police Shake-Up,” New York Sun, June 27, 1917, 4; “Blame in Cruger Case,” Washington Post, June 27, 5.

  shaking, bleeding boy (p. 243): “Sulzer Graft Witness,” Boston Evening Transcript, January 21, 1914, 4. Dominick Celibarde, fifteen years old, had recently been released from the Catholic Protectory.

  “you are honest” (p. 243): “Gross Negligence,” Greensboro Daily News, June 29, 1917, 1.

  “congregation of the Washington Heights Baptist Church” (p. 244): “Two Witnesses,” New York Sun, June 30, 1917, 5.

  “to help me” (p. 244): “Evasive Answers,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, June 30, 1917, 2.

  “has been convicted” (p. 245): “Two Witnesses in Cruger Case,” New York Sun, June 30, 1917, 5.

  deputized him in secret (p. 245): “Cocchi Secreted Here,” New York Sun, June 28, 1917, 5; “Native Town,” Washington Times, July 3, 1917, 5; “Death Threat,” New York Times, July 3, 1917, 4.

  Grace’s scheduled testimony (p. 245): “Better Detectives,” New York Sun, July 1, 1917, 5.

  Henry Ankenmann (p. 245): “Cruger Demands,” New York Times, June 21, 1917, 1.

  motorcycle license (p. 246): “Cocchi’s Boast,” New York Evening World, July 3, 1917, 1. The records of the Automobile Bureau showed that Cocchi did not have a driving license, either.

  Summons were served (p. 246): “Whitman Orders Cruger Case,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 5, 1917, 4.

  it would resume (p. 246): “Scull Is Called,” New York Evening World, July 5, 1917, 1.

  “investigation of police methods” (p. 246): “Mayor Suspends Wallstein,” New York Sun, July 5, 1917, 4.

  “yet to be proved” (p. 247): Ibid.

  Talley (p. 247): Ibid. Judge McIntyre instructed the grand jury that “[a] crime is an act or omission forbidden by law.”

  “this means a long delay” (p. 248): “Death Threat for Cocchi’s Pursuer,” New York Times, July 3, 1917, 1.

  “the dreadful electric chair” (p. 249): “Cocchi in a Dungeon,” New York Sun, June 30, 1917, 5.

  “Homicidal” (p. 249): Death Certificate for Ruth Cruger, February 13, 1917, file No. 19448, Department of Health of the City of New York.

  stopped at 2:10 P.M. (p. 249): “Cocchi Loses Nerve,” New York Sun, July 10, 1917, 4.

  “it was not difficult” (p. 250): Captain Eugene de Beck and Dr. Carleton Simon, “Lessons from Historic Crimes,” Ottawa Journal, January 11, 1939, 10.

  “they didn’t see it” (p. 250): “Her Black Eyes Tempted,” Arkansas Daily Traveler, June 25, 1917, 1.

  if he had done it beforehand (p. 250): “Police Accused” New York Sun, July 11, 1917, 1.

  “wherever the trail leads” (p. 251): “Cocchi Depicts Fight,” New York Times, July 12, 1917, 20.

  hour each day (p. 251): “Cocchi Made Book,” New York Evening World, July 7, 1917, 3.

  “any man in this city” (p. 251): “Cocchi Must Be Returned,” New York Evening World, June 23, 1917, 2.

  “caused the crime” (p. 252): “Fear of Police,” Topeka Daily Capital, July 24, 1917, 10.

  “to get away” (p. 252): “Cocchi Must Be Returned,” New York Evening World, June 23, 1917, 2.

  16: MRS. SHERLOCK HOLMES

  Grace’s interview from “Woman Who Solved Ruth Cruger Mystery,” New York Sun, June 24, 1917, 42; “Mrs. Grace Humiston Tells,” Eau Claire Sunday Leader, July 8, 1917, 9; “Mrs. Humiston,” Waco Morning News, July 8, 1917, 9; “Mrs. Grace Humiston Does Not Look Like a Detective,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 24, 1917, 6; “Mrs. Humiston’s Theory,” New-York Tribune, June 17, 1917, 8.

  “at every step” (p. 259): “How I Solved the Ruth Cruger Mystery,” Pittsburgh Press, June 21, 1917, 1.

  “begin the work” (p. 259): “Mrs.
Humiston,” Waco Morning News, July 8, 1917, 9.

  “dissuaded by that” (p. 259): “Mrs. Grace Humiston Does Not Look Like a Detective,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 24, 1917, 6.

  “born and bred New Yorker” (p. 260): “Woman Who Solved Ruth Cruger Mystery,” New York Sun, June 24, 1917, 42.

  “missing-girl editor” (p. 260): Larry Goldsmith, “Gender, Politics, and ‘White Slavery’ in New York City: Grace Humiston and the Ruth Cruger Mystery of 1917,” unpublished article, 26.

  to only speak to them (p. 260): Guido Bruno, “Commissioner Woods and New York’s Missing girls,” Pearson’s Magazine, October, 1917, 166.

  “Ay, any change” (p. 261): “Lines to Mrs. Humiston,” New-York Tribune, July 8, 1917.

  petrified near a riverbank (p. 261): “It’s Satan Dead, They Say,” Concord Times, August 2, 1917, 8.

  “had been disgraced” (p. 262): “Cocchi Makes Confession,” New Castle News, June 23, 1917, 2.

  Athos’s testimony (p. 262): “Belief Grows Stronger,” Courier-Journal, July 27, 1917, 2. Martin Donnelly, the private detective, also testified that said he saw a filthy Cocchi emerge from his cellar around 11:30 on the night of February 14. Though obviously damning, this was incredibly providential.

  “right of privacy” (p. 263): “Mrs. Humiston Wins,” New York Times, August 11, 1917, 16. The court directed Mrs. Humiston to file a bond of $2,500 to protect the defendants.

  “moment of passion” (p. 265): “Ruth Cruger’s Finder,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 12, 1917, 36.

  “7476-Rector” (p. 266): “Detectives,” adverstizement, Evening Telegram, July 18, 1917.

  job offers (p. 266): “Woods Enlists Aid,” New York Times, July 22, 1917, 9.

  Grace’s personal bodyguard (p. 266): “Society Women Join the Ranks of War Workers,” Washington Times, September 30, 1917; photograph, Evening Independent, July 7, 1917. Commissioner Woods founded the home Defense League to aid the police: 22,000 volunteered, without pay. Renamed the New York Reserve Police Force, women volunteers patrolled childrens’ areas and were trained in emergency first aid.

  “against white-slavers” (p. 266): “Mrs. Humiston, Who Cleared,” New York Evening World, June 18, 1917, 2. Mrs. Adler: “Those of us who aided Mrs. Humiston in this matter urge that some organization, preferably a women’s organization, make it possible for this highly gifted and very capable women to continue the work. Undoubtedly she could find and save many girls.”