TRUE DETECTIVE STORIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 258, 29 October 1921, Page 19

TRUE DETECTIVE STORIES.

REMARKABLE CRif/iES RECALLED. VIII.—AT 4 A.M. (Copyright. 10'-O, by the Wheeler Syndk-ate, Inc.) In all the annals of the Parisian polio force, scarlet-stained and bloody as the? are. the murder of Monsieur Kem>\ aa aged merchant of the Hue de la i'aplnicn. stands out as one of the inosi prouiinent-« not only on account, of the peculiar brii tality of the < rime, but because of tin manner in which it was solved.

In discussing it. one of the leading authorities of New 'Scotland Yard ileclaves that only 11 French official, talked by the latitude which the French law permiis Its police force, could have solved the mystery. Ltut the fact remains that the crime was essentially French, and the method* employed in its detection were those which the Parisian police have found most efficient—whether they come ip 10 the standard of "ethics" of foreign forces or not. Reconstruction of a crime lias never been officially recognised outside or i' r;iiw'Ci there it remains one of tiic most potent I forces for obtaining " r confessions, a

specialist o( menial third degree which hardly fail when properly applied. In the rase of I lie liemy murder, M. Halliard, "Chef du Service de la Hurete." tir*t made a minute examination of the premises with a view to discovering whether the. murderers had left any traces belli ml. Apparently, however, lie hud used extreme caution. The window, through which entrance had been effected, had been cut with a diamond-pointed instrument, the latch slipped hack and the missing piece of glass replaced, lest it attract the attention of a passing gendarme. On the glass, where one would naturally expect to find incriminating linger-print;-. were merely dull shapeless splotches. The criminal had heen carefill to wear goves. Inside the same persistent caution was everywhere apparent. 'Hie liouse Jiad evidently been entered with the intention of burglary only. The safe in the library had heen opened and rifled, but the swinging door had overturned a chair and the noise had either frightened the intruder or he had feared that it would arouse the old merchant, whose light sleep was a mailer of common knowledge in the neighbourhood.

Fearing detection, or possibly on a search for further loot, the burglar liad crept upstairs, and had entered Ilemy's bedroom. The merchant, partially awakened, had started to arise—that much was shown by the position of the 'body—only to be struck down by the blow of a keen-bladed daeger immediately over bis heart. Then, while the body of the old man lay still bleeding, the murderer 'had ransacked the room, even pulling aside t'hc bed-clothes in a search for hidden treasure.

"That," summed up 01. Hainard, "Is apparently all there is to the case. No clues. No evidence. No incriminating marks of any kind. •Committed ill the darkness, ahout four o'clock in the morning, the critic appears to be as black and. sinister as 'the grave. There is only one ray of light—and even tliat is so faint that it could hardly be called illuminating." "One ray, Monsieur?" queried an assistant, "Where if it? I see nothing—and 1 have been over the house and the grounds almost with a microsope." "You have noticed the extreme care used in entering the house?" The assistant nodded. "And the fact that nothing 011 the first floor, with the exception of the safe and one chair, has been disturbed?" Again the nod. "Combine the two! A burglar as cautious as was the man who entered here would not have used a light, not even an electric torch. lie would have feared that it might attract the attention of someone outside! lint, in all these rooms well filled with furniture, nothing is misplacednothing lias 'been overturned, always excepting the chair near the safe. What does that suggest?".

'That the criminal was familiar with the bouse and knew wlicrc the tables and, chairs stood!"

"Precisely. Not only was lie familiar, with it, but lie practically knew it by heart. lie could—ami did—find his way in the dark. That very fact siinplities our search amazingly. Instead of lookins for anyone, of a thousand professional burglars, we will concentrate our attention upon persons who could have wan* dered through this maze of bric-a-brac without disturbing as much as the petal of a flower.' 1

After a fortnight of intensive investigation. M. llamard felt certain that the crime had been committed by a man named: La garde, formerly employed as a butler in the Kemy house, lint who had been discharged lor falsifying his accounts. Lagarde. however, claimed to have been several miles away at the 'time the crime was committed, and his alibi was sustained by what appeared to be incontrovertible evidence. It was because of this that Halliard hesitated .to arrest liim, and finally decided to piay his trump card—the "reconstruction" of the crime. On the pretext of informing the police as to some minor details about the Kemy house, Lagarde was escorted there shortly after midnight, precisely one month from the night nf the murder. After entering, lie was left alone in the library of the dwelling, while llamard and his associates busied themselves with something upstairs. Then, at 3.-15, the .Chief of Police announced that his arrangements were complete, ami requested the butler to accompany him upstairs. Without a word they took their places in what had been the bedroom of the dead man, and in a voice which scarcely rose above a whisper. II a mam said: "The only way to uncover a crime of this kind is to follow the mental processes and reactions of the 111:111 who committed it. Listen. Did you hear that scratching sound? The pane is being cut. There! That faint, almost inaudible noise was made by the raising of the sash. The murderer is I crossing the library. .. . He is opening the safe. . . . The chair has fallen to one side. He listens—every nerve taut with fear that the noise has roused the sleeping man. He continues his search. He starts to mount the stairs"—here the ImuUled pad-pad-pad of feet was audible "" the carpet outside—"He approaches the room. Ite enters. The sleeping man stir* in his sleep. He moves. lie wake& He starts to rise. But the murderer. cjliuhs* to everything save the money for which lusts, plants his dagger over his lu-.irr. As the chief described the scene it acted with the precision of clockwork. ■ figure on the bed half-rose and then fean back, with a throaty gurgle, !1S 'I figure—only partly visible in ibe dm M —struck down .it bim and a stream blood flowed- over the, counterpane. '•Stop it! sbrlek came from U„.ir e. stand it. I did it: ' I'" "• On,S

St< A moment later he « 6 tody of the policmm who ho n - , of itemv and the one who had 7><™v •" , ' ir-imard, turning np th» 3S the murderer. Han"™1 lights, smiled as the elocl struA rout.