At the end of the column were three boldface lines:
Watch Tomorrow’s Comet for New Developments in This Thrilling Real-Life Tragedy!
In the Comet for July tenth, the Rose Liberry case took up every inch of the front page. The three-line headline screamed across the top of the page, in the biggest type any newspaper owns:
LIBERRY ACCUSES POLICE OF PROTECTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING RING IN CITY!
Suicide Scene of Rose Liberry
Found to Be Vice Palace
Governor Takes Hand; Orders Investigation of City Police and Vice Conditions Here
Mr. John G. Liberry, father of the Rose Liberry whose disappearance caused a sensation here seven weeks ago and whose dead body was found at 417 St. Simon Street on July 8 in circumstances suggesting suicide, today went before Governor David Lamson to bring explicit charges of protecting a human trafficking ring in Gilling City.
The charges uncover one of the greatest scandals in the history of Gilling City and of the state, and are based on the work of a Comet reporter, who today gained entrance to the house at 417 St. Simon Street, where the girl’s body was found.
Disguised as a city water-meter repairman, the Comet reporter was admitted at the rear entrance of 417 St. Simon Street by a frightened cook and housemaid. From them he wrung the admission that the house, under the proprietorship of a Mrs. Harriet Garr, was being run, wide open, as a palace of vice.
Police Chief Accused of Frequenting Vice Palace
Leaving the servants in the kitchen under promises of silence as to his entry, the Comet reporter proceeded to the second floor, where he succeeded in entering one of the rooms. In this room were two young girls, also badly frightened, who readily admitted the character of the place. The house was crowded with men nightly, the girls declared. Liquor flowed freely. One of the girls stated that many city officials were frequenters of the house, and added particulars of her own intimacy with Chief Hartigan, who visited the house often, she said, and whom she had seen receive money from Mrs. Garr.
Gaming Tables Seen
Dazed and unbelieving, the Comet reporter paid the girls to conduct him to the third floor of the establishment, where he saw with his own eyes a luxurious gambling salon, with tables for roulette, dicing, Canfield, chemin de fer. The entire third story was in one room, richly furnished with deep leather chairs and davenports, oriental rugs, fine tables and lamps; at one end was a complete bar, handsomely appointed.
Liberry Told of Character of House
At the time of the reporter’s visit, Mrs. Garr was absent from the house. It was later learned that she was being interviewed at police headquarters, but was released without charge, the police not knowing at the time the discoveries made by the Comet reporter. Having assembled his evidence, the reporter hastened to 1128 Cleveland Avenue, residence of Miss Rachel Staines, aunt of the unfortunate Rose Liberry. Here, he found the father of the dead girl and informed him of the discoveries. Greatly excited, Mr. Liberry immediately telephoned for an audience with the governor, whose aid he had several times attempted to attain during his search for the missing girl. The governor granted the interview at once.
Governor Promises Aid
Governor Lamson was deeply moved by the evidence presented to him. “If this evidence is true, and you may quote me,” he said, “I promise Gilling City a political shake-up such as no city has seen before. It is a blot on the fair escutcheon of this state, that a lovely young visitor from a sister state should be here inducted, whether willingly or unwillingly, into a house of vice. It is a crime that such conditions should exist.”
Hartigan to Go Before Investigating Committee
The governor immediately set in motion an investigation into the conduct of the police department under Chief Hartigan. First witness before the committee, the governor indicated, would be Police Chief Hartigan himself. Mrs. Garr, proprietress of the house at 417 St. Simon Street, would also come under scrutiny, he indicated.
My eyes flew over the other headlines on the page. They were blazingly sensational. One:
I FOUND HER DEAD
She Speaks—The Girl Who Found Rose Liberry!
This is the story of the girl, the woman, who found Rose Liberry dead. She prefers to be unnamed except for her first name, Leah.
“It was eight o’clock in the morning.” Leah’s tear-wet brown eyes closed with pain as she haltingly told her story to a Comet reporter. “I woke up. There was a girl in the room next to mine. A funny kid. She didn’t seem very chummy. But I just thought I’d slip in for a minute and talk while I waited for the bathroom. So I knocked at her door but she didn’t answer. I opened her door. None of our doors have keys. Mrs. Garr doesn’t care at all if we visit. Only the outside doors are locked because she doesn’t like girls slipping out on her without her knowing it. You can’t blame her, because where would she be if she had a lot of business and all the girls gone to a movie? So, as I said, I opened the door and walked in.”
Walks in on Death Scene
“I walked in, and there was that poor kid hanging to a hook on the inside of the closet
