where Dr. Holt pronounced him
dead on arrival.
Meanwhile, police began an
investigation of the premises.
They searched at length for a
weapon, both inside the laundry
and all around the area. There
was nothing.
They did, however, note that
Mr. Fink had died with money
on his person and cash in the
open register at the front. Aside
from a bracket, broken off from
the transom and laying about
one foot from the door, nothing
was out of order. (Police deter-
mined that the bracket had not
been broken when Hull entered,
which means either Fink or the
killer was responsible.)
Police also noted a hot iron
sitting on the lighted gas stove;
apparently, Fink had been iron-
ing when he was killed.
Headed by Detective William
Clark, police conducted inter-
views for the investigation. They
Why did
the killer
want to
leave
the door
bolted
from the
inside?
discovered that Isidore Fink was
something of a mystery not only
in death, but in life, as well.
Virtually no one volunteered
much information about Fink.
Max Schwartz, with whom Fink
lived, told police Fink had no fe-
male friends, but he had no
more information about Fink's
personal life, which, he said, the
deceased never discussed.
Furniture-store owner Max
Sternberg said that Fink was
very particular about security.
While the deceased often kept
late hours (his laundry was open
until midnight on Saturdays),
Sternberg said Fink always kept
all the doors and the one window
locked, as he was afraid of being
robbed, and would admit only
those customers he knew.
Sternberg and others agreed
Fink had no enemies.
For a short time, police were
on the hunt for two "well-
dressed" women Miss Smith re-
portedly saw near the laundry
after she heard the scuffle in-
side. For unknown reasons, de-
tectives abandoned this lead.
So if Fink was not robbed, and
he had no enemies, what was
the motive? And even more per-
plexing: just how was this crime
committed?
Police had two theories about
what might have happened.
In the first, the killer shot
Fink outside his laundry, then
Fink came in and bolted the
door from the inside. Police
quickly discounted this possi-
bility, though no further infor-
mation is available. (Perhaps
no blood was found outside; none
was noted in files on the
case.)
Another idea — the one police
believed most likely — was that
the killer had entered and exit-
ed through the transom. This
would help explain how some-
one could gain entry to the laun-
dry were Fink hesitant to let
him in, although it's odd that the
perpetrator would risk drawing
so much attention to himself.
Suppose a passerby had noticed
him climbing through the tran-
som, which seems quite likely
considering the fact that it was
only 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday
night?
Then there's question of why
the killer chose to leave through
the transom, and not just walk
out the front door. What would
be so important about leaving
behind a door bolted from the in-
side?
Another issue is the fact that
the transom was, of course, at
the top of the door.
If the transom was the means
of entrance, exit or both, a per-
son of ordinary height could
have reached it only by climbing
with his feet braced against the
door, standing on an object such
as a table, or getting a boost
from another person. It seems
unreasonable to assume that the
killer climbed up because police
did not note scuff marks on the
door or walls. No furniture or
equipment was out of place, so
the culprit did not stand on an
object. And if more than one
killer was involved, how did the
second man escape?
In the months after the inci-
dent, police continued to inter-
view and re-interview Max
Sternberg, Miss Smith and Effie
Moody, "janitress of said build-
ing." All were eager to help, but
they knew nothing.
The last police report on the
death of Isidore Fink was filed
Aug. 15 1930, when detectives
were still interviewing the vic-
tim's acquaintances and neigh-
bors.
The case remains open this
day.
It's up to you to solve it
now. 111
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