A marlin spike, three dark lanterns and a sledge hammer which lay beside them, told too plainly how the work had been accomplished, but it furnished no clue as to how, or when, or by whom.
The car was of the ordinary size of a box freight car, built with an iron frame, sheathed over with thick sheet iron plates, rivetted strongly together, and so closely made that a light placed inside could not be seen when the doors were closed.

A messenger always accompanied this car, but he usually sat in the baggage car of the train, and as the train did not make any stoppages between New York and New Haven, it was only at this time that the theft was discovered by the entrance of the messenger.
It further appeared that the company's safes were taken from the depot in New York and placed in the iron car, which was waiting upon a side-track, and which was immediately afterwards attached to the train.
The safes having been placed in the car, the door was securely locked, and, as the train was then ready to start, the agent of the company gave the word "All right!" The train started and sped upon its journey, and nothing further was known until its arrival at New Haven and the discovery of the theft.
I was immediately notified of the matter, and after a careful observation of the safes and an investigation into the facts of the case, I thought I detected the handiwork of a party of young thieves whom I had accidentally encountered in another operation in which I had been engaged some months previously.
Operatives were immediately despatched in various directions, and the movements of the suspected parties were carefully but unobservedly watched.

Very soon after, I succeeded in running down two of the parties, named John Tristram and Thomas Clark, and upon arresting them each one had in his possession a gold watch, both of which were identified as stolen property.

They were accordingly conveyed to Bridgeport and held to await their trial.
Mr.Wells, the genial and efficient keeper of the prison, whose acquaintance I had previously made, received the prisoners and securely fastened them up.
A few days following this, an old resident of Norwalk, who was also an uncle of one of the men arrested, was observed by one of my men, carrying a package of unusual weight from his residence to the house of a sister of Tristram in New York City, and an examination of the house resulted in finding nearly eighty seven thousand dollars of the stolen treasure.

The old man was arrested, but developments proved too plainly that he was only acting as a mere blind messenger for the other parties, and he was accordingly discharged.
The trial of the two men, which subsequently took place at Bridgeport, was attended by a large array of New York burglars, shoplifters and pick-pockets--all friends of the criminals.