Crime of the Century. Gregory Ahlgren and

solo across the Atlantic, in what, by contemporary standards, was not much more than a motorized hang glider. He could pull this one off too.

      The first step, to avoid finding the empty crib, was easy. Upon reentering the house shortly after 8:25 p.m. he immediately realized that the disappearance had not yet been discovered. He went upstairs and washed up. However, even though the bathroom was adjacent to the nursery he did not enter it to "check" on his child.

      He returned downstairs where he and Anne ate supper. Afterwards he steered Anne into his study directly under the child's nursery.

      It was here at approximately 9:15 p.m., while the wind continued to blow outside, that Charles interrupted the conversation by asking, "What was that?" Anne had not heard anything. The Whatelys never heard anything. Betty Gow never heard anything. The high strung terrier Wahgoosh never barked.

      Only Charles Lindbergh claimed to have heard something, a sound he later described alternately as a snapping sound or as wooden crates falling. He knew the wooden ladder lay outside in the mud with a broken rail. He needed to establish the time of the break to a moment when he had an alibi. He did, and the second part of his plan was complete. At approximately 9:20 p.m., Anne and Charles went upstairs where they spoke briefly in Anne's bedroom. Charles left and drew a bath in the upstairs bathroom. Again he did not use the occasion to enter the adjacent nursery. Anne remained in her bedroom writing.

      The bath was important for Charles. It allowed him to assure that any remaining tell tale evidence was removed from his person and also gave him additional time to collect his thoughts.

      After his bath, Charles descended to his study where he remained alone with his pens, his writing paper and his envelopes. He had to complete the third part: the ransom note. Yet he was in a tough situation because he dared not risk planting the note until after the disappearance was discovered.

      At Hauptmann's trial the chief handwriting expert for the prosecution, Albert Osborne, testified that the original nursery note had been written in a disguised hand. Lindbergh wrote the note, disguising his handwriting all the while.

      South Jersey was heavily populated by German immigrants. To draw attention away from his household, Lindbergh attempted to make it appear that the note had been written by one. He used some simple German words ("gut" for "good") and phonetically spelled other English words as he believed a German immigrant might pronounce them. A German struggling with the English language often says "d" instead of "th" as the "th" sound does not exist in German. For instance, the English definite article "the" in German is "Der", "Die" or "Das", depending on the gender of the following noun. In conformity with this, the note used the word "anyding" instead of "anything." What is patently false is that the use of a "d" sound instead of the English "th" is an enunciation problem. A German would not spell a word with a "d" instead of a "th"; it is not the case that he thinks that the word is spelled with a "d"; rather he knows it is spelled with a "th" but he simply can not pronounce the "th." The writing of "anyding" is simply the attempt of one trying to imitate a German immigrant's speech.

      The European method of placing the monetary symbol "$" after the numerals was also employed. And lastly, Lindbergh used the plural "we" to make it appear that the kidnapping was the work of a gang.

      Lindbergh then sealed the envelope, after making sure his prints were not on it or the note, and awaited his opportunity to begin his role as the victim. That opportunity arrived with Betty Gow's 10:00 p.m. entrance to his study asking if he had the child.

      It must have been nerve racking, waiting for the knock on the door he knew would come. When it did he sprang into action almost too quickly and thereby almost made a fatal mistake. Fortunately for him, no one at the time noticed.

      He quickly bounded up the stairs to the child's room, the note safely hidden on his person. His wife and Betty Gow looked at the empty crib. He knew that it was time to get everyone immediately focused on an outside kidnapping.

      At Hauptmann's trial two and onehalf years later Betty Gow remembered, and testified, as to the Colonel's exact first words. "Anne," he said, "they have stolen our baby."

      At that point the note had not been placed, let alone discovered or read. Its contents were known only to its author. The note referred to a kidnap gang and specifically used the plural "we." However, Lindbergh's use of the plural "they" before he supposedly found the note never raised any police suspicions.

      Lindbergh dashed outside with a loaded rifle to look for the kidnappers. Anne and Elsie searched for the child. Oliver Whately eventually went outside to help and was dispatched into town. By the time Lindbergh came back inside Betty, Elsie and Anne had completed their search and had assembled in the downstairs living room.

      It was here that Charles Lindbergh reentered the nursery where he remained alone. The room could be hurriedly wiped down with a handkerchief in less than sixty seconds while Anne, Betty and the Whatelys remained downstairs. Until this point no one else had seen a note, despite the search by Anne, Elsie and Betty Gow. It was here, upon emerging from the nursery, that Colonel Lindbergh called to Betty to come upstairs. She did, whereupon the Colonel showed her an envelope on the sill of the southeast window. At Hauptmann's trial she specifically testified that she had not seen that envelope earlier. The Colonel asked her to go to the kitchen to get a knife and she obliged.

      Lindbergh needed someone to see that envelope, and recalling Betty upstairs so that he could tell her to go downstairs to get a knife to open the envelope served that purpose. For reasons of logic, it served no other.

      With that one act Charles Lindbergh was home free. The child was gone, the time of the kidnap had been established with Anne as an alibi for Charles, the fingerprints were wiped away, and the ransom note verifying this as a kidnap was written and planted.

      All that now remained was to play out the role of the victim, to let events take their course come what may. Lindbergh would become the central power of the investigation, tracking its course and ensuring it did not come back to him. An analysis of the subsequent events reveals that he accomplished this fifth and last goal very well indeed.

      This composite photograph, from the New Jersey State Police archives, displays several items from the "Crime of the Century" (courtesy New Jersey State Police Museum).