THE BUTTON IN CRIME.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 103, 2 May 1891, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE BUTTON IN CRIME.

It Plays an Active Part in-the Drajia of' Life.

Burglars and Murderers Betrayed by Buttons. — So_:c Stb.ange Stories FRO3I a Detect ive's Note-book.

The ordinary button of commerce plays a v er y active part in tho drama of life.

Not only in comedy do .3 the insignificant button nlay an important role. The thread of human life has been severed time and acain when this perverted, inanimate thins? broke from its mooring, land rolled away to fall into the hands of the- police. There is now a young' man in tho penitentiary who was undur. c by a button : that is, the button was -undone that was tho cause of his undoing-. Somo months ago a shop was broken into at night. Tho thief or thieves, who evidently knew tho plan of tbe shop perfectly, loft no traces behind ; that is the police who first arrived on the scene could find none. It looked very muoffc as if the crime would alwayH remain undiscovered.

A Button the Clue. A detective examined the premises thoroughly. He was old in the business. He sifted all the dirt on Che floor, studied the scratches on tho wall, pored over the burnt scraps of paper in thft grate. The reward of his rosearc hes was a button —an ordinary, homely littlo black button ; thab was enough, however, for the viligant detective. On tho back of tho button was stamped a tailor's name, it was the name of a clothier where cheap clothing was sold, much frequented by working mon. Tho detective had a list, of bho names of all tho employees, past and present, of tho shop that had been robbed. Ho visited the clothier's and found that a suit of clothes had been soid to a young ma" who was on the criminating list. Tlhere was a suit like the one he had bought on exhibition in tha window. The detective compared his button with those on tho coat ; they were identical. He had.'the young man's no.meand address. He found L'im ; ho also found that a button was missing from his trouscars. ' I came t,i restore you your missing j button,' said tAe detective., politely. , The bracelets clicked oa .his wrists. The | little button, the little accursed button, had betrayed him ! 8 But there are buttons onol buttons.

It is nob always b.ho vulg;ar little button of the working man and . tho cheap clerk that plays an important part in the drama of crime. The gold button, the dian mnd button of the rich, has been guilty of jeopardising many a proud neck, of sen diner its wearer into an enforced seclusion whero the Government pays all the board, bills. A Murderer Discovered' by a ButtonOne day all Paris was startled by the murder of a young girl in- the neighbourhood of Notre Dame de Lorotte. The police worked hard to find out who had done .he deed. They .spent weeks in searching ; they arrested mauy people, and they gained nothing. Yes ; they found a button, a. gold button, in the dead girl's room. That was all. A detective who had been prominent in tho search was one nighb detailed to attend in evening dress a reception at a very swell house. He was to look after the diamonds and sco that the gentlemen guests did :not walk off with each others' mufflers and gloves by mistake. He idled here and there, scrutinising tho people, shadowing the hostess, who was resplendent with tho family gems that night, moving here and there in an unconcerned way, but keeping his eyes open. He was about to sinter the conservatory, when he suddenly came upon a couple standing under the .coloured lights that crowned an artificial palm t.je. He was passing on, after a hasty glance, when the gleam of something on tho lace above the lady's corsage attracted .his attention. He wonb behind the tree aud drew as near as ho could to the laicty. Tho full light of the lamps fell upon her bosom ; on a golden buttion that held the fragile laco in its place. Shadowed T. Why was he so excited ab this discovery - He hardly knew himself for a momentThen he remembered thab bhis button gleaming before him was tbo exact duplicate of the one that had boon found in the room of the poor little dead Lorett'e. A button that could not be matched in any of the jewellery stores in Paris. The strange similarity in the jewels set the detective thinking, and ib a,!so set him working. When the young woman went home that nighb after bhe ball with the same youngman she had spoken with so long in the conservatory, a shadow followed them. Ib was the detective. Ho found out her name, her antecedents, and those of her companion. Pie learned that they wore in love with each obher, thab they were to be married in a few weeks. Bub sentiment did nob provenb him from doing his duty. In a few days ho had pieced together the whole siory. Tho young man had led a gay life ; he had become entangled with, the girl who had been murdered. He wais the possessor of a pair of Etruscan cuff buttons of curious design. They had been admired by hi 3 fiancee. Ho offered to get a pair made for her just like them. This was done. Tiie lady on the nighb of the reception had used one to button together the lace which most women aro addicted to wearing. The detective learned thab theyoung man had wished to rid himself of hi 3 vulgar intrigue in order to make tho rich marriage, and finding that threats and promises did not satisfy the girl he had murdered her. So what was to have ended with orange blossoms and a father's blessing ended for one in transportation to New Caledonia for life. And the button, the deadly button, was the cause of it all ! A Cuff Button Betrays a Burglar. A young man of wealth nnd fashion who lived in elegant apartments awoke ono night to hear strange footsteps in his room. He was not without courage. He rose softly, and, grasping a fencingfoil from the wall, bravely attacked the intruder, not knowing in the dark whether he was confronting one or half a dozen. They fought over the table and the chairs, slashing everything bub themselves, and then the young man found thab he was alone—that his antagonist had disappeared. So had his gold repeater and several other elegant trifles from the mantelpiece. When daylight came the young man hunted about the disordered room for some clue to his midnight visitor. He found a bubton, a cuff bubbon, smeared with blood. There was a monogram on ib, ' CH. A.' He was something of an amabeur detective himself, so he_ resolved bo hunt down alone the burglar without the aid of the police. The task was easy, but it took timo and required patience. He had to visit nearly all the jewellery shops. He found out where the button had been made, and for whom. The man who had ordered bhe pair was arresbed. He could nob give a very clear accounbof where he had been on bhe nighb of the burglary, and things looked very black indeed for him. A few days before he was to be brought before the Court for senbence a notorious cracksman was arrested by the police. j Among other things he confessed that he ' had robbed the apartments.

The cuff buttons were tho result of a previous robbery. Of course the unfortunate prisoner was released, and the young man who had been robbed atoned for the mistake as far as he could in a substantial way.