[Page 21] Hundreds of people visited the Morgue, curious to look upon the dead girl. Many went there in search of missing friends, hoping and yet dreading that in the mysterious dead girl they would find the one for whom they searched. People from afar telegraphed for the body to be held until their arrival, but they came and went and the beautiful dead girl was still unidentified. Penelope Howard and Richard Treadwell[Page 22] were made to figure prominently in all the stories about the beautiful mystery, much to their discomfort. The untiring reporters called to see Penelope at all hours, whenever a fresh theory gave them an excuse to drag her name before the public again, and poor Richard had no peace at his club, at his rooms, or at Penelope’s home. If the reporters were not interviewing him, his friends were asking all manner of questions concerning the strange affair, and pleading repeatedly for the story of the discovery of the body to be told again. Some of his club acquaintances even went so far as to joke him about the girl he had found dead, and there was much quiet smiling among his immediate friends at Dick’s fondness for early walks, a trait first brought to light by his connection with this now celebrated case. [Page 22] Not the least important figure in the sensation was the Park policeman who found Penelope and Richard bending over the dead[Page 23] girl. He became a very great personage all at once. The meritorious deeds which marked his previous record were the finding of a lost child and the frantically chasing a stray dog, which he imagined was mad, and wildly firing at it—very wide of the mark, it is true—until the poor frightened little thing disappeared in some remote corner. [Page 23] This officer became the envy of the Park policemen. Daily his name appeared in connection with the case as “the brave officer of the ‘Mystery of Central Park.’” Daily he was pointed out by the people, who thronged to the spot where the girl was found, curious to see the bench and to carry away with them some little memento. He always managed to be near the scene of the mystery during the busy hours of the Park, and the dignity with which he answered questions as to the exact bench, was very impressive. But the officer’s pride at being connected[Page 24] with such a sensational case was not to be wondered at.
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