The Kidnapping and Murder of Little Skeegie Cash: J. Edgar Hoover and Florida's Lindbergh Case

2. “We Have the Child”

2 “We have the Child” Sunday, May 29, 1938 At about one o’clock in the morning, a caravan rolled up to John emanuel’s house. bailey Cash drove his 1936 Plymouth sedan while several relatives, employees, and neighbors followed. Cash had previously requested that the group circle the house, and they did so, their headlights illuminating the exterior of the shack.1 bailey and his brother, Asbury, quickly walked toward the front door. The rickety porch looked like it might collapse under the weight of the men. The wind howled in wild gusts,and loose tarpaper flapped a drumbeat against the window.Cash hailed the homeowner but received no answer.The brothers then walked around the building as they searched for the second ransom note. Skeegie had been missing for four hours now. They were racing against time and Cash knew it. he and Asbury returned to the front porch. if they couldn’t find the note outside, they planned to break in to the house. As they stepped onto the porch, the glare of headlights washed off the white nehi sign. And there it lay. Stuck beneath the door, bailey observed a folded piece of paper.2 he seized it and stepped into the circle of headlights. holding the crumpled note tightly so the wind wouldn’t rip it from his hands, Cash opened it and read the message aloud to Asbury. First side of first sheet: We have the child. you will follow these instructions .notify any officer,give serial number of any bill,fail to burn 10 / Chapter 2 this note and you won’t see him again. Place 500 $5 100 $20 500 $10 & 10 $50 total $10,000 in a shoe box and take this route Second side of first sheet: [hand-drawn map] Myra St homestead Moody Dr. 1st oil road follw arrers use old unmarked bills with serial numbers not running in order. Leave Princeton at exactly midFirst side of second sheet: night Monday nt.take first oil road to left, continue to Moody Dr. turn left go to Allapattah Dr. turn right to Myra St. then to homestead go 20 M.P.h. full route at some point in route light will flash two times. StoP. Place box on right side of road then proceed full route Second side of second sheet: The child will be released in a few hours if all instructions are followed and NO ONE notifyd give bearer of this note $5 then step in FRONT OF PLACE AND BURN IT AVYE ANYSLIP -UP AND YOU WON’T SEE HIM AGAIN!3 The distraught father’s hand shook as he placed the note into his shirt pocket. “What’re you gonna do, bailey?” Asbury asked. Cash didn’t hesitate. “everything they ask,” he said. The haggard-looking men climbed back into the car, signaled to the others , and soon the small procession headed back down the Dixie highway toward home. by two o’clock that morning, close to one hundred neighbors still milled around in front of bailey Cash’s service station. others drove back roads searching for anything out of the ordinary. Periodic reports of suspicious activities would get the crowd excited.but once the rumors proved unfounded, the air of hope would leak out of the group like air seeping from a tubed tire.4 A single incandescent bulb attached halfway up a pole next to the Standard oil station cast a dim light over the crowd. The streets, still slick from the previous day’s heavy rain, glistened eerily in the shadows. Suddenly, everyone quieted. bailey Cash emerged from the darkness. no one had seen him since he’d returned home after finding the ransom note. now he strode toward the group, still wearing the blue suit, white shirt, and dark tie he’d had on when he locked up his store. Cash stepped to the front of the crowd. “i want to thank everyone for helping me search for my boy,”he said, his voice echoing through the silence.“i plan to follow every instruction i’ve re- “We have the Child” / 11 ceived from the person who snatched Skeegie. i was asked by the kidnapper to burn this note in public. i will do so now. i also wish to let whoever it was that took Skeegie know that i plan to pay the ransom. All i want is to get...