Tuesday, 29th April 1913 Pinkertons Hired to Assist Police Probe the Murder of Mary Phagan

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913 Pinkertons Hired to Assist Police Probe the Murder of Mary Phagan For Hours Detectives Labor With John M. Gantt, Former Employee of National Pencil Company and Alleged Admirer of Pretty Mary Phagan Sister of Prisoner Admits She Deceived Atlanta Detectives Told Them Gantt Had Not Been Home When He Declared He Was in Bed. Now Admits Story Untrue. Gantt Caught in Marietta, With Suit Case Filled With His Clothes. Despite four suspects already being held at the police station, two white men and two negroes, the detective department remains unsatisfied and the city is being thoroughly searched for evidence that will lead to the arrest of the guilty party. Late Monday night, Leo M. Frank, president of the National Pencil Company, engaged the Pinkerton Detective Agency to assist local officers in hunting down the man responsible for the brutal murder committed Sunday morning inside his company's plant on Forsyth Street. Detectives worked tirelessly throughout Monday searching for anything that might shed light on the mysterious killing, but by nightfall they remained at a loss. Despite exhaustive investigation, no one could be found who had seen the girl after she left the factory with her pay on Saturday afternoon. Several people believed they may have spotted her, but none could say so with certainty. All evidence gathered, however, confirmed the good character of the victim, with family members, neighbors, and fellow workers alike speaking highly of her. Gantt Given Third Degree Determined to force a confession, third degree experts at police headquarters worked late into Monday night with John M. Gantt, the young bookkeeper arrested in Marietta on a direct charge of murder. He refused to break, steadfastly insisting on his innocence. "I was at home Saturday night by 10 o'clock, in bed and asleep." His sister, Mrs. F. C. Terrell of 248 East Linden Street, with whom he lived, had told detectives Sunday night that Gantt had left for California a month prior and had not been home in four weeks. Sister Admits Deceiving Detectives On Monday afternoon, however, she told a reporter for The Constitution a very different story, admitting that Gantt had in fact been at her home both Saturday and Sunday nights and that she had deliberately misled the detectives. "I knew they were detectives and I lied. John was here Saturday night. He was here Sunday night too. I just did not want the detectives to know it." Gantt had left Atlanta early Monday morning. Police learned he had boarded a trolley car to Marietta and immediately notified authorities there. He was arrested the moment he stepped off the car. Detective Haslett brought him back to police headquarters by 4 o'clock that afternoon. He was immediately closeted with Chief Lanford while a squad of detectives and criminal experts rolled up their sleeves and prepared for a prolonged interrogation, vowing not to stop until they were satisfied of his guilt or innocence. They were still locked in with the suspect at midnight. That he had not yet broken was evident, as no admission had been made. He will not be granted bond, visitors, or any communication with the outside world. Arrests came rapidly throughout Monday, five in total over the course of the day. Among them was Leo M. Frank, president of the pencil factory, who was detained for questioning. After about an hour of interrogation he was released. "Your Loyalty Or Your Neck" Investigators were also assisted by P. Y. Brent of the W. E. Treadwell Company, who helped question one of the negro suspects held in connection with the case. After three hours of intense interrogation, Brent addressed the prisoner directly. "I know what is the trouble. Someone you are faithful to killed that girl. You know all about it. I would not be surprised if you did not have a hand in it yourself. You do not want to tell because you want to shield whoever murdered her. It is just a question of loyalty or your neck. You cannot keep but one." "Yessir, Mr. Brent, that is a fact. I know that," the prisoner replied, his lips trembling and his body shifting nervously. His questioners leaned forward, expecting a confession. But the man steadied himself, moistened his lips, appeared to grasp the weight of what he had just said, and pulled back. "But I do not know nothing. I do not know a thing." Every question thrown at him was met with the same response, a repetition of his original account of discovering the body, and when that failed to satisfy his interrogators, a flat and repeated denial of any knowledge. "I do not know. I do not know a thing." He was returned to his cell and will henceforth be confined to the dungeon. Police remain firmly convinced that he was either involved in the murder or is personally acquainted with the killer. Meanwhile, during the overnight search for Gantt, police headquarters received word early Monday morning that he had been spotted leaving a saloon directly across the street from the factory building where the murder occurred. Herbert Schiff, assistant superintendent of the plant, had been sitting in his office when he saw the former bookkeeper hurrying away from the establishment.