CHAPTER 17Spring, 1914
That spring I received a letter with a Richmond postmark. As soon as I opened it, I immediately looked for the bottom signature, but it was unsigned. The writer informed me that he was a former Baldwin-Felts detective who had been beaten up badly, and could no longer work. He offered to sell me valuable information for $500. By this time I was so desperate for some kind of a connection, I knew it was worth the price. But being a journalist meant I would try to get it cheaper.
The letter had a post office box address I could reply to, so I wrote and advised that I was no longer employed by the newspaper, and that I would be interested in the information for my own purpose. I told him he had to give me some idea of the information he had, and I offered $150.
T
