262 Slide – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

230 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.

nostrils and mouth just foll of sawdust and swollen, and there was
a deep seratch over the left eye on the forehead; about the neck
there was twine—a piece of cord similar to that which is used at the
peneil factory and alo 2 piece of white rag. After looking at the
body, I identified that little girl as the one that had been up shortly
after noon the day previous and got her money from me, Woe then
left the undertaking establishment, got in the automobile and rode
over to the pencil factory, Just as we arrived, I saw Mr. Darley
going into the front door with another man, 'e went up to the
eecond floor, the office floor, I vent into the inner offiee, hung up
my hat, and in the inner offies I saw the night watchman, Newt
Lee, in the custody of an officer, who I think was detective Starnes
—the man who had phoned me, I unlocked the safe and took out
the pay roll book and found that it was true that a little girl by
the name of Mary Phagan did work in the metal plant, and that
she was due to draw $1.20, the pay roll book showed that, and as the
detective had told me that some one had identified the body of that
little girl as that of Mary Phagan, there could be no question but
what it waa one and the same girl, The detectives told me then
they wanted to take me down in the basement and show me exactly
where the fF ’e body was found, and the other paraphernalia that
they found atrewed about; and I went to the elevator box—the
ewiteh box, so that I could turn on the ewrent, and found it open.
I got on the elevator and started to pull the rope to start it going,
and it seemed to be caught, and I couldnt move it, However, Mr.
Darley was successful in getting it loose, and it started up.

In the basement, the officers showed ua just where the body was
found, and in behind the door to the dust bin, they showed ua
‘where they found the hat and slipper on the trash pile, and they
showed us where the back door, whers the door to the rear was
opened about 18 inches. We all went back upstairs and Mr. Dar-
ley and myself got some cords and some nails and a hammer and
went down the basement again to lock np the back door, so that we
conld seal the factory from the back and nobody would enter. After
returning upstairs, Mr. Darley and myself nesompanied Chief Lan-
ford on # tour of inspection through the three upper floors of the
factory, We did not notice anything peculiar.

‘We removed the clock slip. After putting a new slip in. the
clock, we all went out of the factory and went downstairs and
locked the door and we went to the police headquarters.

Now, gentlemen, I snave heard a great deal, and so have you, in
this trial, about how nervous I was that morning. I was nervous,
completely unstrung; imagine, awakened out of my sound sleep,
and a morning ran down in the cool of the morning in an anto-
mobile driven at top speed, without any food or breakfast, rushing
into a dark passageway, coming into a darkened room, and then
suddenly an electrie light flashed on, and to see the sight that was
presented by that poor little child; why, it was a sight that was
enough to drive a man to distraction. Of course I was nervous;
any man would be nervous if he was a man. We rode to headquar-
tera very quickly and Mr, Darley and I went up to Obie? Lanford’s