The night of 8–9 March would have brought little sleep, if any, to Deacon Brodie. There was no possibility of knowing if his co-conspirators would hold their tongues while being questioned by the Sheriff. That night would have turned into Brodie’s version of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” For Brodie, the thumping under the floorboards was replaced with his own floorboards creaking and groaning surely betraying the footfalls of the Sheriff’s men creeping through his home with an arrest warrant. No sooner than these thoughts were cast out of Brodie’s mind as temporary lunacy, they were replaced with the voices of Brown, Anisle, and Smith singing his name in a chorus to the Sheriff. “And there I was with none other than Deacon Brodie,” the trio clamored to the Sheriff. The voices would fade and morphed into the faces of his sisters looking stunned at the news their brother was capable of such depravity. Backed into a corner created only by his own paranoia, Brodie rose from his bed at sunrise believing that there was no other choice than to flee Edinburgh.

As the rest of Edinburgh was preparing for kirk services, William Brodie sent for his foreman, Robert Smith. Around 8 o’clock that morning the dutiful manager of Brodie’s day-to-day business affairs arrived at Brodie’s Close. Undoubtedly, being summoned to Brodie’s home first thing in the morning was a common occurrence for Smith. Given the Deacon’s nighttime proclivities, it is doubtful that Brodie made an appearance at jobsites until his men’s midmorning break. Smith would have been accustom to receiving Brodie’s written instructions for the day at meetings like this and hoping, like any employee, that his boss would simply leave him and his crew alone for the day. Brodie in turn would have probably returned to bed for a few hours of extra sleep before facing his own everyday duties.

As Brodie casually went over the plans for the day with Smith, Brodie mentioned that he would be going out of town for a few days on business. In and amongst the details of building projects Brodie asked Smith to retrieve a waistcoat and pair of breeches for his trip. We don’t know where Smith was to go for these items as the meeting between Brodie and Smith happened at Brodie’s home. No matter the disposition of the clothing, the request did not seem out of sorts for Smith. Before sending Smith on his way, Brodie casually asked his foreman, “if there were any news about the people who had broke into the Excise.”

Robert Smith would have had to have been an astute individual to rise to the station of foreman under Brodie’s watch. Knowing that Brodie had been associated with all three of the robbers, Smith carefully answered his mater’s question by stating that George Smith was in custody and Brown had been taken to England. After relaying the news Robert Smith quickly stated that he hoped Brodie was not concerned about the men’s disposition. Either through the shock of realizing his foreman knew Brodie associated with the robbers or as a means to deflect the open ended statement, Brodie didn’t say an word and dismissed his foreman to his duties.

The rest of that Sunday morning would go rather quickly for Brodie. His first order of business was to secure a lifeline back to Edinburgh one he left the city. Brodie turned to his cousin Milton for assistance. For some reason Milton’s name was withheld from court records and it’s only through Roughead’s reprinting of Brodie’s letter’s written while on the run we at least have his first name.  Milton wasn’t exactly enamored with the idea of aiding and abetting a fleeing felon. It would seem through Brodie’s letters written a few weeks later that Milton’s only tangible assistance was giving Brodie a change of clothing. Brodie wrote this of the exchange with Milton and a Mr. Nairn in a letter to his brother-in-law Matthew Sheriff on 8 April 1788:

My wardrobe is all on my back, excepting two check shirts and two white ones, one of them an old rag I had from my cousin Milton, with an old hat (which I left behind), my coat, an old blue one, out at the arms and elbows, I also had from him, with an old striped waistcoat, and a pair of good boots. Perhaps my cousin judged right, that old things were best for my purpose. However, no reflections; he is my cousin, and a good prudent lad, and showed great anxiety for my safety; rather too anxious, for he would not let me take my black coat with me, nor Mr. Nairn's great-coat, which makes me the worse off at present ; but I could not extract one guinea from him, although he owes me twenty-four pounds for three years past. He turned me over to Mr. Walker, who supplied me with twelve guineas. He is a gentleman I owe much to. I wish I may ever have it in my power to show my gratitude to him and Mr. Nairn. Had Milton been in my place, and me in his, my purse, my credit, and my wardrobe, my all, should have been at his disposal. However, let not this go farther, lest it should have an appearance of reflection upon a worthy man. He cannot help his natural temper.

Who exactly Mr. Nairn was and what, if any, assistance he gave Brodie outside of a greatcoat has never been discovered. There are a number of Nairn’s listed in Williamson’s Edinburgh Directories, but one can only guess as to which one was associated with Brodie or if this was the Doctor Reverend Narin listed on Deacon Brodie’s debt sheet.

Brodie’s cash strapped predicament also gives us some insight into how confident the man was about not getting caught and how rattled he must have been at the prospect of being caught. For being as malicious planner as Brodie appears to have been during his crime spree, the good Deacon had never considered needing to quickly leave town. Had Brodie considered this possibility, he would have had a “to go bag” with clothing, cash, and some sort of false identity already sorted. Not to have even thought about gathering any supplies during the his previous sleepless night indicates the level of panic Brodie faced. Had Brodie been thinking clearly he might have attempted one more theft to secure funds for his flight. It would have been the perfect time for such a move. The Sheriff and City Guard would have been secure in the knowledge that those responsible for the recent spate of robberies were tucked away in the Tolbooth. That Saturday night into Sunday morning was possibly the best night of the year to commit a crime in Edinburgh.

Having none of these preparations and with Milton’s poor mouthing Brodie was left to secure funds from another source. Milton had suggested that his cousin seek out William Walker, a solicitor in London’s Adelphi district, for assistance. So with having no one else to turn to, Brodie left Edinburgh before noon that Sunday believing he would never return. Before noon that Sunday morning, William Brodie left Edinburgh for what he believed to be the last time. He would not arrive in London until the 12 March. Like so many times in the tale of Deacon Brodie, his good fortune in London would come at a price.

The initial news that Deacon Brodie had left Edinburgh would not have raised many eyebrows. Spring was at hand and undoubtedly Brodie would make his way to check on lumber and other out of town suppliers’ stocks for the coming warm months. Except for Brodie’s foreman, Robert Smith, there were only three other persons in Edinburgh that would have been concerned about Brodie’s travel arraignments. How anyone received bits of trivial news in the Tolbooth is only known to the good Lord above, but the word of Brodie’s flight reached his partners in crime through the Tolbooth’s thick walls on Monday, 12 March 1788. The news must have taken George Smith, Ainsle, and Moore by surprise. Thus far none of the trio had spoken a word about Brodie’s involvement in their nocturnal activities. Brodie’s flight must have broken the compact of wrongdoers and signaled that Brodie had no faith in his partner’s ability to keep shtum. To be fair, Brodie’s partners were probably keeping the knowledge of the Deacon’s involvement as a bargaining chip should their legal situation become dire. There’s also the possibility that Smith, Ainsle, and Moore felt that if they dropped Brodie’s name, before his leaving Edinburgh, the Sheriff would have thought it to be a fairy story. Only guilty men run and the time was ripe for cashing in the trio’s only bit of leverage.

George Smith was the first of the three to request an audience with Sheriff Cockburn. The message from Smith was, “that he wished to have an opportunity of making a clean breast and telling the truth.”  And tell the truth George Smith did in statements on  Not only did Smith speak of Brodie’s involvement in the gang’s past crimes, Smith’s spilled the beans on the following crimes Brodie et al were planning for the future. Smith’s statement to Sheriff Cockburn does not indicate why he chose to mention the future crimes. Smith was looking for any currency with Sheriff Cockburn would might secure a King’s pardon.

George Smith had fingered Deacon Brodie so convincingly that the Sheriff questioned Ainsle about Brodie’s involvement with the gang. Ainsle confirmed Brodie’s involvement with the crime ring and the Edinburgh Sheriff’s office put a bounty of £150 Sterling for Brodie’s capture and an additional £50 bonus if Brodie was convicted.