The next step was to secure the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
which Rice had on deposit. Patrick had already forged Rice's name to
blank checks on Swenson and the Fifth Avenue Trust Company. Early Monday
morning Jones, with Patrick looking over his shoulder and directing him,
filled out the body of the checks, which covered all but ten thousand
dollars of Rice's deposits. These consisted of one for twenty-five
thousand dollars and one for sixty-five thousand dollars on Swenson, one
for twenty-five thousand dollars and another for one hundred and
thirty-five thousand dollars on the Trust Company. They were all made
payable to the order of Patrick and dated September 22d, the day before
Rice's death. One of the drafts on the Fifth Avenue Trust Company was
cashed for him by a friend named Potts early Monday morning, and was
paid without suspicion.
But now came the second error, which resulted in the exposure of the
conspiracy and conviction for murder. Jones, in filling out the
twenty-five thousand dollar check on Swenson, had in his nervousness
omitted the "l" from Patrick's Christian name, so that the check read
"Abert T.
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