A cantankerous old man, rumored to be a wealthy miser, and who has strained relations with his dysfunctional family, is found battered and bloody on the floor of his isolated house in Bath, Maine. The old man’s wallet is missing, his locked valise is opened and empty, and the premises have been cleared of all the cash he allegedly hoarded inside. What happened to Corporal Joseph Emery Purrington’s elderly father on the rain-soaked night of September 27, 1882, has remained a mystery for more than 143 years. Until now.