was actually innocent, and that his jealous, married lover, committed the crime.

Books have been written about the case, songs have been sung, plays have been performed and even a movie was made, but the question will probably never be answered as, 150 years have passed since the hanging and a couple more since the killing.

This novella is just my suggestion of what may have happened in late May 1866 in western Wilkes County, North Carolina. Even if the novella is for large parts based on known and documentable facts, the solution to the riddle is pure fiction.