In town, Maggie and "John" visited the Springwood Orphanage, established in 1929, to find out about the "dead killer""s kid.The film""s fictionalized plot was based on Lieut.William Pittenger""sDaring and Suffering: A History of the Great Railway Adventure(akaThe Great Locomotive Chase), a true Civil War story of the daring raid/seizure by a group of about two-dozen Union spies (led by civilian spy James J.On his first visit to Laura Hunt""s apartment, accompanied by both Lydecker and Shelby, McPherson callously re-enacts the murder at the door, basing his information on graphic police photographs of the "dame":When a dame gets killed, she doesn""t worry about how she looks.Two: Someone who wants o harm the writer read the book and enacted the killing described o incriminate her.