midnight
That official came back to report the truth of the statement made by the Schmidts , that the Judge 's room was empty , upset , and had some blood stains ; but he attached little importance to the matter . He had , however , locked up and sealed the door , pending examination . Next morning , there was an attempt to hush the matter up , but a reporter appeared in the interests of a big paper , and by a clever combination of veiled threats and promises of support , got permission to see the room . The reporterial instinct and the detective instinct are close kin , and the newspaper published some most promising clues : The Judge was visited at midnight by a man whom he had robbed and who had threatened to kill him ; a broken door , papers stolen , a scuffle , traces of human blood -LRB- the microscope said so -RRB- in several places , blood on the window sill , a heavy something thrown out of the window and carried off by two men , blood on the back fence , and no trace of the Judge . It was a strong case , and any attempt to gloss it over was rendered impossible by the illustrated broadside with which the newspaper startled the public . The Trial All Chicago remembers the trial of Michael Shay . It filled the papers for a month ; it filled folk 's minds and mouths for two .