Warden Billings had made his plans known to his brother Mark. He and a guide Joe Stringer were heading to an area south of Whitney to search for a Whitney trapper who was poaching in that region. They expected to be gone for three or four days.
After a week had passed, Mark Billings was dismayed to learn the two men had not even returned to Whitney. He contacted the Department of Lands and Forests and the police in Pembroke and began to organize a search party.
Several theories were posited: the men might be lost or delayed due to a mishap; they might have fallen through the ice and drowned; or they might be the victims of foul play.
According to the reports of the day, the trapper that Jack was pursuing had threatened his life after an earlier arrest. The search party left Whitney on the morning of January 20 and within a short time discovered a grisly scene on Birch Creek, 13 miles south of Whitney; a burnt cabin and charred human remains.
Underneath some bones, a ring of keys, a wristwatch and a revolver were discovered and identified as Jack’s. Other items were found which were positively identified by Stringer’s widow. A shell casing of the same type sold by a Whitney storekeeper to the illegal trapper was discovered among the ruins. Also, several snares were found under Stringer’s remains. Footprints led from the clearing to another cabin some miles distant on Hay Lake, which was known to be frequented by the poacher.
A native trapper in the vicinity claimed to have seen flames in the sky on the night of January 9. As a result of these discoveries, the police suspected a double murder and issued a warrant for the arrest of the Whitney trapper.
Six days later, as Police Inspector Stringer was leading a search for the suspect deep into the bush, the wanted trapper reappeared in Whitney where he was arrested, without a fuss. The suspect claimed he had been in Whitney on the day of the deaths, a story which was corroborated by the testimonies of his grandmother, his uncle, and a Whitney resident who had seen him at Post’s store on January 9.
He then left for the Sand Lake area where he spent a week tracking two fishers, and at the time of his arrest was able to present the two pelts. He claimed that he knew nothing of the deaths of Billings and Stringer until he found a note left by his father at a cabin on Sand Lake.
Realizing that he was wanted on murder charges, he returned to Whitney where he was arrested on January 26. The suspect was detained first at the hotel in Madawaska where he was questioned by Police Magistrate Chown and later at a Whitney boarding house where he waited for the inquest.
The inquest was concluded on Friday, February 5 with Magistrate Chown giving the Whitney trapper his freedom. Twelve witnesses had given depositions at the inquest. Some witnesses were certain the deaths were a result of foul play but Police Inspector Stringer and others felt the deaths had been accidental.
The inquest determined the evidence for foul play was inconclusive and the suspect’s alibi was sufficient. The Pembroke Standard reported on February 11 that this double tragedy would "go down in history as one of the many unsolved mysteries of the woods."