Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing Read Online Free PDF Page A

said.
    There was no answer. McMullen visited with the Hartes a while, then decided to try knocking on Kehoe’s door again. Still no answer. He sat down on the steps, sat there the better part of an hour, wondering what was going on inside. McMullen tossed over various scenarios in his mind, none of them pretty. Maybe Kehoe’s gone and hung himself, he thought, though there was no reason to believe this was the case. Finally, McMullen figured he ought to round up some neighbors. Something was seriously wrong; if Kehoe was hurt he would surely need help.
    But just once more McMullen tried the door, knocking as hard as he could. After a moment, he heard something inside. Kehoe was coming down the stairs, alive and apparently well. Wearing just pants and hisbedroom slippers, Kehoe opened the door and greeted his unexpected visitor.
    “What is the matter?” McMullen asked. “Are you going to kill yourself sleeping?”
    Bemused, Kehoe gave a sly grin. “It wouldn’t be a bad way to die, would it?” he said.
    “Probably no,” said McMullen. Kehoe invited McMullen in. The two men talked a while, McMullen hemming and hawing with excuses about why he didn’t want the horse. Kehoe was surprised but conciliatory, offering a glass of cider to his guest. He went down to the basement to fetch the cider, then sat back down with McMullen. “Now you sit tight,” Kehoe said. Kehoe said he had to feed his other horse and then would drive McMullen home.
    McMullen declined the offer, saying he didn’t mind walking back. Kehoe insisted. McMullen downed his cider, then followed Kehoe out to the barn. The horse was fed. Kehoe walked over to his machine and again offered to take McMullen home.
    “No, go on and get your breakfast,” McMullen said. “You are going to town. Go on, I can walk home.”
    “No, I ain’t going to get any breakfast until I get to town,” Kehoe said. “I won’t be going down for an hour or so. I have got to shave.” Finally, McMullen acquiesced. After dropping McMullen at home, Kehoe quickly turned around and headed back to his farm.
    A few days later, Kehoe called McMullen, saying he was going to town, and asked if McMullen’s sister would like a lift. That she did, and McMullen thought this would be a ripe time to bring the horse back. When he was about a quarter mile from his destination, McMullen saw Kehoe coming down the road. Kehoe appeared surprised. The two men talked a bit, then Kehoe told McMullen, “I will go back and help you put the horse in the barn.” Again he offered to take McMullen home once they were done.
    As they put the horse in its stable, Kehoe looked at McMullen. “Al,” he said, “You made a mistake by not keeping that horse over there.”
    McMullen chose not to reply.
    Kehoe drove McMullen back to the road. McMullen’s sister was there, waiting for Kehoe, so McMullen decided to walk back to his farm.
    From start to finish, the whole episode was strange and a little unsettling. Allen McMullen had no more dealings with Andrew Kehoe. 20

    Throughout the fall and into winter and spring Nellie Kehoe’s health grew worse. Blinding headaches, the constant rasping cough, a body wracked by ill health. There seemed to be no end to it. She was constantly in and out Saint Lawrence Hospital. Alone during those times, Kehoe usually ate his meals in town. He often drove to Lansing to visit his wife in the hospital.
    David Harte sometimes saw Kehoe’s truck at night coming home from what Harte assumed was a trip to Saint Lawrence Hospital. He always knew when Kehoe was out; the man never shut his garage door when he left and always closed it up tight when he returned. Generally speaking, Kehoe’s trips weren’t late; he usually came back between eight and nine o’clock.
    In mid-April, Harte noticed that Kehoe’s trips were on the increase and he often had boxes covered with some kind of tarp in the bed of his truck. Kehoe never said a word about any of this. 21

    In late April or