Chief Williamson up to the nursery, showing them the note on the radiator under the window, pointing out clumps of yellow clay leading from the window to the crib, and telling them not to touch anything until a fingerprint expert arrived.
The local police officials were clearly in over their heads and were awed at actually being in the presence of Colonel Charles Lindbergh. They did not question his authority or challenge his commands. This initial mistake would ultimately be replicated by each succeeding level of police and prosecutorial authority throughout the case, and its effects would never be remedied.
Colonel Lindbergh took the two local police officers outside with their flashlights. In the soft mud just to the right of the nursery window with the warped shutters were two holes as if made by a ladder. Leading back from the holes were footprints which led to where the soft ground ended and scrub began.
The Colonel led the other two back along the footprint trail. At the edge of the scrub they found an obviously handmade extension ladder.
The ladder was unlike any other. It came in three sections and was designed so that each subsequent section would fit inside another, wherein it could be fastened by the insertion of a wooden dowel to hold that section in place. The rung slats were more like crosspieces, poorly notched into the side rails. The rungs were also very far apart. Whereas a standard ladder has rungs approximately twelve inches apart, these rungs were nineteen inches apart, making it appear to have been custom built by, and for, a very tall man with long legs. The top rung and adjoining side rail of the bottom section of the ladder had split.
When found, the bottom two sections were still together. The top section lay approximately twelve feet away. Also found in the mud under the window was a threequarter inch Bucks chisel with a wooden handle. Later analysis revealed it to be at least thirty years old.
The three then trudged back inside the house and the Hopewell Police began to attempt an investigation. Assistant Chief Williamson later noted that the other members of the household were understandably nervous and agitated. Yet curiously, although his first and then only child had ostensibly just been kidnapped, Colonel Lindbergh appeared very calm and collected. The investigation made no progress and Williamson noted that no information was learned relative to the kidnapping. Before it could progress too far, officers from the New Jersey State Police began to arrive and the Hopewell Police were only too glad to step aside.
After Colonel Lindbergh's telephone call had been received by the New Jersey State Police, they had immediately put a call out on their wire. The flash was picked up by other departments and acted upon. New York City Police closed down the Washington Bridge as well as other bridge and tunnel connections from New Jersey to the city, searched all cars entering the city from New Jersey and recorded all license plates. The massive dragnet that was to sweep the nation in the coming weeks and months got off to a quick and thorough start that night.
The first State Troopers to arrive at the Lindbergh house were only the beginning of an unorganized horde of police and press people whose continued arrival progressed uninterrupted throughout the night. The New Jersey State Police had put out the word and the name "Lindbergh" prompted all who heard to converge without orders, and without organization. They simply came, and as their numbers swelled the chances of ever finding the truth decreased in direct proportion. Among the first were State Troopers Cain and Wolf from Lambertville; de Gaetano and Bornmann from Wilburtha, Captain Lamb, Lieutenant Keaton, Major Schoeffel and others. And as each rode up on his motorcycle and aimlessly tramped over the grounds he successfully helped grind every available physical clue deeper into the soft mud.
Each trooper was met personally by Colonel Lindbergh and, as was common with almost everyone who met "The Lone Eagle" in those heady days after May of 1927, each man, like Hopewell Officers Wolfe and Williamson, was awed at being in the Colonel's presence.
And the Colonel took advantage of their reaction. He commanded that no one touch the envelope until the fingerprint man arrived and no one did.
The troopers who tramped the grounds that night, obliterating every clue, were not the only arrivees. The initial State Police flash had been picked up by countless news reporters and radio journalists who routinely monitored all such calls. By 10:30 p.m., one half hour after the discovery by Betty Gow, radio stations were already broadcasting their first reports.
Shortly thereafter a steady stream of reporters began pilgrimages to the Hopewell house. As the troopers who arrived early were disorganized and without direction, no precautions were taken to limit the reporters' access to the house or grounds, nor were any precautions taken by the police to preserve the crime scene.
And curiously, Colonel Lindbergh himself, who supposedly was so calm and composed at the time (according to Assistant Chief Williamson), and who supposedly was the only one logical and cool enough to adamantly command that no one touch the envelope, did nothing to stop or stem the onslaught of reporters who added to the melee and trampled the soggy earth.
In fact, Colonel Lindbergh did the opposite. A man who hated the press and who often spoke bluntly and viciously of his feelings concerning what he considered to be its intrusion into his personal life, now acted atypically. As each reporter arrived Colonel Lindbergh met him personally at the door, invited him in, escorted him to the living room, made sure that Whately made sandwiches for everyone and that all had enough to eat, and thanked each one for the concern exhibited and for coming out on such a night. He was courteous, deferential and solicitous. He was not behaving in a manner consistent with his personality.
Eventually the head of the New Jersey State Police, Colonel Norman Schwarzkopf, arrived. A West Point graduate and World War I veteran, Colonel Schwarzkopf had since left the army. At one point he had sunk to being a store detective at Bamberger's Department Store in New York before receiving the appointment by the Governor of New Jersey to head up the State Police, despite the lack of any previous police experience. A political appointee, Colonel Schwarzkopf, like the Hopewell officers and his own troopers before him, quickly deferred to the presence and commands of Colonel Lindbergh. Shortly after midnight the fingerprint expert, Trooper Frank Kelly, arrived. Only then was the envelope disturbed. Trooper Kelly put on a pair of gloves and dusted the envelope with black powder. There were no prints. He then slit open the envelope and dusted the inserted letter. There were no prints there either. The note was handwritten:
Dear Sir! Have 50.000$ redy 25.000$ in 20$ bills 15.000 in 10$ bills and 10.000$ in 5$ bills. After 24 days we will inform you were to deliver the Mony. We warn you for making anyding public or for notify the Police the child is in gut care. Indication for all letters are singnature and 3 holes.
At the bottom of the note was a symbol of two interlocking circles whose overlap comprised an oval. The oval was colored red and the remainder of the circles blue. At the center of each geometric shape was a square hole.
Frank Kelly proceeded to dust the nursery for fingerprints. The popular significance given fingerprint analysis in movies, television and written fiction is greatly exaggerated. It is extraordinary how often television shows "solve" a crime by analyzing a forgotten fingerprint on cloth, clothing or even skin. In reality, fingerprints are not easily made and therefore not readily discoverable. The conditions have to be close to ideal: a hard, flat, clean surface and a distinct and clear pressure from a finger. The print is made when body oil from the finger is deposited on an appropriate surface sufficiently flat and clean so that it will record the ridged impression of human skin.
Fingerprints can rarely be made on cloth, skin, fabric, curtains, masonry, rugs or porous wood. They are useless if smudged. If the receptive surface is oily, greasy or wet they will not take. They are almost impossible to obtain from outdoor surfaces exposed to the elements for any length of time. Best results are obtained from a print on clear glass, flat metal or smooth surfaced wood.
Frank
