Soon after the robbery, the partners began to scour the country looking for banks that presented themselves as targets for their endeavors. Connors spotted the Second National Bank in Elmira, NY. After careful investigation it was found that, on the floor above and directly over the vault, was a room reserved for the local Young Men’s Christian Association. They believed they could access the vault by entering the YMCA at night and removing the rock below the floor. Difficulty presented itself, however, when it was discovered that the only access to the room above was through a thick iron door secured with a lock. In order to do the job they would have to find a way to enter and exit the room undetected each night, and that meant getting a key.

The gang went so far as to break into the house of the secretary of the YMCA to feel around his pockets for the keys. Unfortunately for them, the secretary had hidden them under the carpet. It was clear the next morning someone had broken into his house, but nothing was taken and no connection was ever made to the bank.

As in most cases in life, diligence and tenacity tend to provide one with certain opportunities. Such was the case with Billy Connors. Through his various contacts in the criminal world, he learned of a crooked salesman from the Herring Safe Company, William D. Edson. After more than a half-dozen rendezvous and plenty of gentle hints passed, a meeting took place in a saloon on Prince Street near Broadway in New York where Edson agreed that, for $50,000, he would help Connors with the lock.

The plan went into motion.

Connors got a friend in Elmira to send a letter to Herring & Co. inquiring about a safe. As predicted, Edson was sent out on the job. While in Elmira, he was instructed to have dinner at the Rathbone House. During the meal, a man walked in and seated himself opposite. "Are you Edson," the man asked. He answered, "Yes." The stranger then handed Edson a letter of introduction. It was Robert Scott.

That night, they agreed that Scott would go to the YMCA and jam a piece of paper into the lock. Meanwhile, Edson would make his presence known in the town so that, naturally, when it was discovered that the door was malfunctioning, he would be called in for the job.

It all worked perfectly. While Edson worked on the door he got an impression of the key which he, in turn, gave to Scott. They now had the access they needed.

Next, a woman from Baltimore was hired to rent a house in the suburbs. For the next 6 weeks, Scott, Dunlap, Red Leary, Billy Connors and John Berry worked every night, going to the YMCA, opening the lock, pulling up the floorboards and removing ton after ton of rock. Everything they removed they placed in baskets and carried to the roof of the nearby opera house where it would not be found. They cleared away the rock, then railroad iron and then a plate of 1 1/2 inch steel. Finally they exposed the top of the vault. Their labor would at last pay off.

Unfortunately for the gang, this also happened to be the night that Mr. Pratt, President of the Elmira Bank, decided to make one of his irregular evening inspections of the premises. It was the thin layer of dust that he found on the floor of the vault that gave him cause to sound the alarm that evening.

All escaped with the exception of Berry who was caught on his way out the door. He was arrested, sentenced and sent to Auburn prison for the crime.

The group left behind about $200,000 in cash and $600,000 in bonds.