the 26th of July, Strollo had come to the
post-office and pushed this identical letter through the window, at the
same time handing her two cents and asking her to put on a red stamp for
him. She had been surprised at this, and had at first thought of calling
his attention to the fact that only a one-cent stamp was necessary, but
she had refrained and put on the stamp. At the same time she had noticed
that it was addressed to "Antonio Torsielli, Lambertville, New Jersey."
Strollo had then taken the letter and slipped it into the "drop" and she
had cancelled the stamp, taking the opportunity to examine the letter a
second time. A stranger coincidence could hardly be imagined, and this
observing young lady from the country was thus able to supply the most
important link in the chain against the murderer, and to demonstrate
conclusively that the wretch had himself been mailing in Lambertville
the letters purporting to come from the fictitious brother in Yonkers.

Strollo was now placed in the House of Detention as a "witness," a
course frequently pursued when it is desirable to prevent a suspect from
knowing that he is accused.

The case against him was practically complete, for it did not seem
humanly possible, that any jury would hesitate to convict him upon the
evidence, but juries are loath to find any one guilty of murder in the
first degree upon purely circumstantial evidence, and this was the first
purely circumstantial case in a long time. Inspector Price, therefore,
conceived the idea of trapping Strollo into a confession by placing a
detective in confinement with him under the guise of being a
fellow-prisoner. It was, of course, patent that Strollo was but a child
mentally, but he was shrewd and sly, and if he denied his guilt, there
was still a chance of his escape. Accordingly, a detective named Repetto
was assigned to the disagreeable task of taking the part of an accused
criminal. He was detailed to the House of Detention and remained there
for five days, from September 8 to September 13. Here Repetto became
acquainted with Strollo and the other prisoners, giving his name as
Silvio del Sordo and his address as 272 Bowery. He played cards with
them, read the papers aloud and made himself generally agreeable. During
this period he frequently saw the defendant write and familiarized
himself with his chirography.

The scheme worked and Repetto afterward received five letters from
Strollo, sent after the latter