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The killers had left no clues behind. The cord and tape they used to bind and gag their victims were stock items that could have been purchased in any town in the U.S. There were plenty of fingerprints around, but the house of the busy, friendly Clutters had been "like a railroad station," as a neighbor put it, and the prints could have belonged to any of numerous visitors. One thing seemed certain to the Clutters' friends and neighbors: so methodical a crime could not have been committed by strangers who came upon the farm by chance. "When this is cleared up," said Clutter's brother. "I'll wager it was someone from within ten miles of where we now stand."