Wagner lived nearby he and his wife Nellie had just returned from a night in downtown Waterloo. Gunshots had been heard, and there was a man lying in the street. Suddenly, the entire neighborhood came awake with alarm. Stahley heard gunshots.Īt that same time, a tall woman - weighing about 145 and wearing “a tango-colored skirt” - was seen picking something up from the sidewalk along Conger Street, putting it in her purse, and walking away quickly. Against the silence of the neighborhood, she heard a woman running past the house, skirts rustling loudly as she moved. James Stahley at 600 Conger Street had gone to bed in an upstairs room but was not yet asleep. So Flanders was not surprised when Huggins decided to go home.īefore he left downtown, Huggins bought cigars and candy at the American Confectionery Store next to the streetcar waiting station and then got change for a five dollar bill at the downtown Sherwood Greenhouse on East Fourth.Īt 9:30 p.m., Flanders and Huggins bade each other goodnight.įlanders went to the Crystal Theater with another friend and Huggins boarded a Cedar Valley Line streetcar to go home.Ībout 10:35 p.m., Huggins got off the streetcar and started walking towards the Sherwood home and greenhouse in the 500 block of Conger Street. Huggins was too preoccupied that night even to enjoy “The Three Keatons” at a local theater (courtesy Vaudeville Urban Legends).īut nothing seemed to suit Huggins that night, and Flanders sensed his friend was preoccupied and wanted to be alone.