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Ack now l edgm ents In writing a book on a murder case, whether the crime took place last year or a century ago, the author must be prepared to do a considerable amount of detective work. In fact, during the course of my research, one person I interviewed referred to me as a “historical sleuth,” and I suppose that there is some truth to that. For much of the time, I felt I was gumshoeing Novak in much the same fashion as Red Perrin did, but obviously I didn’t have to pack goods over the Chilkoot Trail, build my own boat, and navigate six hundred miles down the Yukon River to Dawson City. However, in many ways, I was following Frank Novak, from the time he was born until his marriage to Ella Johnson in 1913. But unlike Perrin, tracking Novak wasn’t my goal. I wanted to learn everything I could about the man—what made him tick, his business successes and failures; and most important, what his motives were. During the past six years, my research journey has taken me to dozens of places in Iowa, the West Coast, Alaska, the Yukon, and several European countries. I talked to many Iowans and visited libraries, historical societies, and chambers of commerce. In doing so, I realized that I would never have been able to complete this book without the assistance of many people and organizations. First, I thank the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) for its assistance in both Des Moines and Iowa City. Two SHSI library resource technicians, Heather Hildreth and Charles Scott in Iowa City, were immensely helpful in locating microfilm of old newspapers and periodicals. In particular, Scott was instrumental in finding the musty sixteen-­ hundred-­ page, two-­ volume set of court testimony that had been lying in archival repose for the past one hundred and ten years. Moreover, he graciously let me take digital photographs of each page. I’m also most grateful to Sherri Stelling, Rosie Springer, and Bruce Kreuger at the SHSI Des Moines office for their assistance in providing additional historical documents for my perusal. Many of the libraries that I visited were extremely helpful in ferreting out detailed information about the case as well as background information on eastern Iowa. I especially thank Virginia Holsten of the Vinton Public Library, who took time from her busy schedule to answer my questions as well as patiently search through back issues of the Vinton Eagle; Kristi 230 Acknowledgments Sorenson of the Belle Plaine Public Library; and Pat Erger of the Norway Public Library. I also received assistance from Jennifer Albin and Wendi Goen, archivists at the Arizona State Library in Phoenix, Arizona. They discovered rare photographs of Red Perrin as well as archival information on his days spent as a deputy sheriff in Tucson in the early 1890s. John McGlothen, research analyst of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, assisted me regarding background information on the early days of that newspaper. He also forwarded to me several clippings on the career of W. I. Endicott, a city editor of the Gazette during the Novak case. I owe a large debt of thanks to Jennifer Rouse, consulting librarian and college archivist of Cornell College, and Peggy Hill, records coordinator of Coe College. Jennifer passed along information to me about three of the four lawyers involved in the case—M. J. Tobin, E. L. Boies, and Tom Milner— all of whom graduated from Cornell. Peggy sent me copies of her files on Leo Novak, Frank Novak’s son, who graduated from Coe College and whose amazing life is probably worthy of a separate book. The archivists at Library and Archives Canada were extremely helpful in providing information on the North West Mounted Police post in Dawson City as well as copies of Perrin’s arrest warrants and a typed report from Inspector Charles Constantine detailing Novak’s arrest in July, 1897. Thanks also to Melanie Quintal and, in particular, Claire Banton for assistance in tracking down William Ogilvie’s fascinating photograph of Perrin and Novak together in St. Michael, Alaska. I am especially grateful to Mary Beth Davidson, director of records management at Travelers insurance company. From the beginning, she was extremely helpful and gave selflessly of her time in digging out information on the case. She also made copies of background records from the company’s files, including the original coroner’s report, the Thiel Detective Agency’s notes on the case, and...

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