On Wednesday, November 16, three of the stolen traveler's checks were cashed at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago. On the same day two more were cashed at the counter of Capital Airlines in the same city. A check of the plane flights from Chicago on that day revealed no further trace of the fugitive.
On November 30 more than 1000 persons crowded into the Trinity Lutheran Church in Thief River Falls to attend the burial service for Kenneth Lindberg. Mrs. Violet Lindberg bore up bravely. "The damage is done," she said, " we can't understand how such a thing could happen in our community. My husband was killed by a crook who exchanged his soul for a few dollars."
The first arrest made in the case occurred on November 26 in Monroe, Michigan. A state trooper stopped a car for speeding. The man at the wheel identified himself as Miles La Rose. The girl with him gave her name as Sallie Jean LeClair. The couple seemed nervous and the officer became suspicious. He searched the car. In the glove compartment he found two cashiers checks and the amount of $300 each made out on a St. Paul, Minnesota bank.
There were also a number of keys to the safety deposit boxes, 50 automobile keys, $265 in cash, along with the Mexican and Canadian currency and several pornographic photographs. The trooper also found a small quantity of narcotics. He arrested the pair took them to the Monroe County Jail. A quick investigation revealed that Miles La Rose often used the alias of Frank Rinaldo and the description that was sent out from Thief River Falls in the Lindberg murder case.
The FBI was immediately notify. They interviewed LaRose, checked his alibi that he was at the Olds Hotel in Detroit at the time of the kidnapping. It held up. However the county authorities detained the pair on the narcotics in pornographic charges.
That left the FBI and the Minnesota police precisely where they had been ever since the day when Lindberg had so mysteriously disappeared from the Northern State Bank. More than 50 FBI man were now working on the case in several states. Every remote clue, every crackpot tip, was tracked down. But invariably it finished at a dead end.
Early in December the FBI learned that one of the stolen traveler's checks had been cashed at the Connor Hotel in Joplin, Missouri. The check had been cashed on December 3, by a man who called himself Charles Kenwell. That, apparently was the same name that the suspect had used when arranging to open an account in Detroit. The FBI agents called the immediately at the hotel, asking for Charles Kenwell.
"He's not checked in here," the desk clerk told them. "He stayed here for a while in November. He checked out on November 8. He dropped in on December 3 and asked to cash a traveler's check and he told me he was staying with friends. Since I knew him, I cashed the check."
The FBI began a block by block search of Joplin. It took them five days before they arrived at the home of Mrs. Irma Southwell, Mrs. Southwell lived with her daughter, who with a sister-in-law, operated a travel agency. The Southwell family was socially prominent and long-established in Joplin.
On November 5, a full week before the mysterious disappearance of Kenneth Lindberg, Mr. Charles Kenwell appeared at the counter of the Southwell Travel Agency. He was extremely well-dressed and well groomed. He was glib and personable. He picked up an illustrated folder which extolled the exotic virtues of Spain and asked several questions.
"I'm thinking of spending a year in Spain," he said. "I needed a year in some quiet town to finish my novel."
Ms. Southwell was interested. "Are you a writer?"
Charles Kenwell not only was it a writer, he wasn't even Charles Kenwell. However, he thoroughly convinced her that he was both. She was quite impressed with Kenwell. So much so, that she took him home and introduced him to her mother, who was equally impressed.
Kenwell spoke of the various books and magazine articles he had written. Mrs. Southwell remarked that it was odd she had read nothing of his, since she was a constant reader. Kenwell countered this by announcing that, as a general rule, he wrote under pseudonyms.
"Mine is a mainline Philadelphia family," he said. "Perhaps a little on the stuffy side. They disapprove of my choice of career. They wanted me to work in the family bank. I use various names to spare my mother's feelings."
This is Southwell thought this was most considerate of Kenwell.
On November 9, Kenwell checked out of his hotel. He told the Southwell's that it was necessary for him to go to New York to consult his publishers. However, he would return to Joplin within a few weeks. He was writing a story about the early days of Missouri. There was certain research he must do it Joplin. This is Southwell was so taken with her new friend that she offered him the hospitality of her own home.
"When you return, she said," you mustn't stay at the hotel. You come here and stay with us. We have plenty of room." Kenwell accepted graciously. A few days later he left Joplin. However, he did not go to New York. Later it became clear that he had covered a circuitous route. He traveled to Chicago, Minneapolis, Thief River Falls, Detroit Lakes, Clear Lake, Detroit, then back to Chicago. December 3 he arrived back at Joplin, bag and baggage into the unsuspecting household of the Southwell's.
The part four tomorrow
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