Police questioned Gordon Wilson of Hemenway Street. Wilson admitted that he had had two friends living with him: Thomas Healey and Paul Hurley.

The old Mr. Simms, while rummaging in trashcans, found a pistol that matched the one the assailants had used. (Simms accidentally shot himself in the hand when he found the gun.) The pistol had been reported stolen from the Hotel Commonwealth.

All signs led to Paul Hurley, recently fired from his bellboy position at the Commonwealth, as the shooter.

Healey and Hurly fled to New York City by separate buses with a plan to reunite in New York. On August 5th New York Police caught Healey in the bus station. He identified Hurley and was taken back to Brookline.