◆ SpookStack

The appeal was relayed to the FBI and the order went out launch- an investigation that was to last for three years and become o: the classic manhunts in FBI history. FBI agents moved into Fairfax and found an almost impenetrablg 3 *” wall of fear. People were afraid to talk and witnesses who might have ©.” given information had long since disappeared. There were rumors, Mi which sent the agents off for days at a time on false leads. Someone, they knew, was deliberately “planting” stories to confuse their search. But the hunt continued. No one in Fairfax’ paid any particular attention when four strangers | * drifted into. town one by. one, a cattle buyer, an insurance salesman, ~ ah oil prospector and an Indian herb doctor. They went about their business, minding their own affairs. : Weeks passed without a break in the case. But then a signal was - passed and the four strangers met one night in the dadlands to pool ' their information and plan their next moves. The “catile buyer” was * _ the oldest, and he was the FBI agent in charge for this special under- cover detail. After ‘hearing the reports, he summed them up:*“Here’s where. we stand: Anna Brown was killed on unrestricted [non-government] land and so wert Bill and Rita Smith. We have no jurisdiction there. But Henry Roan Horse was killed on restricted [government] land—and that’s our case. If we can break that case, I figure we'll find all the killers.” The others agreed. . Months passed. The four strangers often met under the stars in the Osage hills to exchange information and each time they met they had a bit more information about the circumstances surrounding the mur- ders. Gradually the picture was taking form. And the man in the pic- ture was William K. Hale. Finally, the agent in charge told his men: “Hale is our man without a doubt. He had a $25,000 insurance policy on Henry Roan Horse’s life. And it looks as if he was working to get the estates of Lizzie Q. and her daughters centered in the hands of that nephew of his. But we have to prove it.” . Prove it they did. The wall against which they had pounded so long crumbled slowly but steadily. From the badlands came a tip that a cer- ‘tain convict in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary knew something about the murders. The agents found that the convict, who hated Hale, was , ady to talk. He said, “Go sce Emest Burkhart. He can tell you every- ing you want to know.” f . This dovetailed with other information collected over the month: e agents confronted Burkhart with what they had, and what th suspected, Hale’s 's nephew was the weak link. He broke and told thé . - . - are Page 117 of "The FBI Story, = so A Report to the People” by Don Whitehead