For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago Read Online Free Page B

bootlegging,” he added, with a wink to Englund. “We don’t want the folks to find out. Don’t say anything about it.” Nathan turned to Richard and remarked that he had cleaned as much as he could—there was still some slight discoloration of one of the rugs but no one would ever notice. 2

    H OW UNLUCKY , R ICHARD EXCLAIMED, as they drove away from the house, that Englund had seen them cleaning the car! But Englund could never have known that the stains were blood. And why should there not be wine stains on the car? It was a plausible explanation, surely?
    Nathan was irritated. Couldn’t Richard stop worrying? It was done; there was nothing they could do about Englund. Why, he asked, did Richard have to nag him so?
    And there was still a lot to do that afternoon; they would have to hurry if they were to make the schedule.
    That afternoon—Thursday, 22 May—they were to set up the ransom payment.
    They still had to contact Jacob Franks with instructions; they had to lay a series of clues for Franks to follow, clues that would get him onto the three o’clock Michigan Central train. And then, once Franks was on the train, they had to drive to the drop-off position, not far from the Champion Manufacturing Company, to pick up the packet of money that Jacob Franks was to throw as the train made its way southward, out toward Indiana.

    N ATHAN WENT OVER THE PLAN one more time as they drove north along Greenwood Avenue. They would telephone Jacob Franks at his home, directing him to a litter bin at the intersection of Pershing Road and Vincennes Avenue, where he would find a letter, instructing him to drive to the Ross drugstore at 63rd Street and Blackstone Avenue. Franks was to wait at the rear of the store, by the telephone booth, for a phone call, for further instructions.
    Nathan had always thought it a very clever plan and, as he rehearsed it again on the ride, it still seemed foolproof.
    While Jacob Franks waited at the drugstore, he and Richard would telephone Franks from a second drugstore, instructing him to walk to the railroad station one block west on 63rd Street to catch the train that came down from Chicago, the train that left at three o’clock from Central Station. Once Franks was on the train, he was to go to the rear platform, where he would find a second letter in the box for telegraph blanks. This letter provided further instructions: Franks was to stand on the east side of the train, to wait until he had passed the large redbrick factory with a water tower on its roof—there could be no mistake; a white Champion sign was painted on the water tower—to count to five, and throw the packet of money as far as possible.
    It was brilliant!—what could go wrong?

    T HEY DROVE EAST ALONG P ERSHING Road and parked the car near the corner of Oakwood Boulevard.
    In his right hand, Nathan held the letter that would tell Jacob Franks to drive to the 63rd Street drugstore and wait for the telephone call.
    But already there was a problem. No matter how they tried, they could not attach the letter to the inside of the box at Vincennes Avenue; the tape would not adhere to the black metal surface.
    They could not run the risk that the letter would blow away in the wind—Jacob Franks might never know to drive on to the drugstore.
    Better to omit this stage. They would call Franks: he should drive directly to the drugstore to wait for the phone call. 3
    There was not much time; it was already a few minutes past two o’clock; the train would leave Central Station in less than an hour.

    T HE M ICHIGAN C ENTRAL TRAIN TO Boston would leave at three o’clock and make its way south along the Illinois Central Railroad tracks, stopping at branch stations to pick up passengers before skirting south of Lake Michigan. Its final destination was Boston, but Jacob Franks, after entering the train at 63rd Street, would get off at Michigan City, the first stop after Chicago.
    The train was waiting to depart from Central Station