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This is a patron's only advance audio of Episode 11 of Season Five. Author Richard T. Cahill talks about his research on the true story of the Lindbergh kidnapping case in Hauptmann's Ladder.

Here's an excerpt:

"I wrote what I thought was a wonderful paper proclaiming that Hauptmann was framed, didn't do it, and so forth. And it came back, and I believe I got a B or a B-plus as memory serves me. And, geez, I should have gotten an A. Well, now, looking back, seeing the paper, my lousy research and so forth, I should gotten an F. So the professor was very kind in what he gave me. 

"But from there I read, I saw another book not long after that on the case and I read it. And that was one by Sir Ludovic Kennedy, which took the position that he didn't do it. But his was more reasonable and didn't say some of the outrageous things that Anthony Scaduto did. 

"So I still maintain that Hauptmann didn't do it, but I just had different reasons why. And then I got another book from another perspective that said that he did do it. And I'm reading through this and I'm, like, it was read by Jim Fisher, called The Lindbergh Case and I'm reading. And I'm like, boy, he makes a compelling case. 

"So I decided I would take a look at the original source material just to see, you know, what really happened. You know, satiate my curiosity. Well, 20 years later, after going through this, I thought to myself, you know what? I've always wanted to write a book, and no human being should have to go through what I've just gone through. I want to write a book and answer the question. And so I wrote Hauptmann's Ladder. And the rest, as they say, is history."