Greatest Feats of Crime Detection.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 230, 28 September 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

Greatest Feats of Crime Detection.

FRENCHWOMAN'S AWFUL END.

rkSdv 7,r. *-• LE HAVRE — GENDARME'S GRUESOME ama™^X,lT7C^V£V UELESS MURDER — SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATOR'S AMAZING REASONING — SEARCH FOR ITALIAN SAILOR WITH RED MOUSTACHE — DRAMATIC CLIMAX.

(By GEORGE BARTON. One of the houses in the Passage des Murthurins was occupicd by a woman of mystery named Marie Pallot. N Xo one knew precisely what this woman did for a livelihood, but the police had their suspicions, even though taey were unable to confirm them. At two o'clock one morning in the last week of October, 1900, a conscientious gendarme was making his rounds trying the doors of all the houses. He did it mechanically, as he had done it 011 countless nights before; but when he grasped the knob of the door of the house occupied by Marie Pallot, it yielded to his touch and moved inward. Surprised at this, • he entered the domicile, and walking along, the narrow corridor came to a room 011 the side. He glanced in, and by the rays of the moon which came through a side window, he saw a woman seated by a table with her head on her arms. It was Marie Pallot. The officer knew her as he knew most of the residents on his beat, and was fairly familiar with her habits. In the circumstances he felt that it was his duty to arouse her and have her lock the front door. He entered quietly and shook her by the shoulder.' ! The Sleep of Death. The resu?> of this was to cause her body to slump forward and her head to strike the table. But the woman showed no signs of consciousness. He touched her hand and, to his consternation, found that it was cold and clammy. He lifted her head and was confronted by a pair of glassy eyes. He let out a gasp of horror. Marie Pallot was dead!

The first thought of the gendarme was that she might have died from natural causes. But a hurried examination satisfied him that she had been struck 011 the back of the .head with some 'blunt instrument. In other words, Madame Pallot had been murdered.

—All Rights Reserved.) thought of that!" Yot the search revealed nothing that had not been known before. Presently the professor returned to the "murder room," and then his methods became more evident. He paced up and down as it measuring distances. Then he went to the front door and examined it carefully. He saw that it had been forced open, and, stooping down picked up a small article on the threshold. It was a small splinter of wood covered with blood. Professor Ileiss opened his wallet antl placed the object in it with great care — one might almost say with great reverence. "What does that triile amount to?" asked one of the officials, with just a trace of scepticism in his voice. The scientist shook his head sadly. "There, is 110 such thing as a trifle — particularly when you are looking for evidence in a murder case." "Ho you call that evidence?" What a Splinter Meant. "Absolutely. It means that when the murderer broke in the door he cut his finger. That is his blood on that tiny bit of wood. When you get your man look at his hands to see if they have not been cut." The coadjutors were more respectful after that, and they followed him in silence into the room where the dead body of Marie Pallot had been found. There the professor began a search that would have delighted the heart of the dotail-loving Dupin. He examined every bit of the furniture with the utmost minuteness. Ho turned the chairs upside down, lie felt of the edge of the table, he scrutinised the paper on the wall, he glanced at the crude prints, and there was not an inch ot floor that did not get his undivided attention. He did this by means of a magnifying glass. This man who could discover

A swift glance around the darkened room satisfied him th-vt he was correct in his belief. The place was in disorder, and the open door of a cupboard on the side of the apartment indicated that it had been robbed. He recalled now the rumours that had flown about the town concerning her business. It had been suspected that she dealt ill smuggled tobacco, brandy and drugs. Most of her trading was done with the sailors, who found this house a convenient place to sell their contraband goods. It was a hazardous way of making a living, and now it had brought about her death. A Clueless Murder. The gendarme hurried to the chief of police, and a general alarm was sent out in the hope of catching the murderer. Before daylight detectives were hunting for a clue, but nothing in the death chamber, or indeed in any part of the house, gave them the slightest inkling to the identity of the culprit. The first thought, of course, was that the murderer must have been one who was in the habit of selling his stuff to the unfortunate woman. A Blank Wall. The thing that troubled the police more than anything else was the absence of any weapons on the premises. The wound indicated that she had been struck on the head with some blunt instrument. But nothing of the kind was found about the house. The authorities were confronted by a blank wall without an opening of any kind. The Clnef of Police was plainly perplexed, but in this early stage of the game he did a very sensible thing. He called upon Professor Reiss, a great authority upon criminology, and a lecturer at Lausanne University, to help him with the problem. He could not have made a better choice He lifted the whole inquiry from a sordid search after a commonplace murderer intq a scientific investigation which was to end in a triumphant solution of a great mysterj. In the realms of fiction we have had three schools of mystery-solvers. lne first of these was represented by Dupin, whose love of detail would have surely enabled him to find the elusive needle in the haystack. The second was typified by Sherlock Holmes, who could tell whether you were a saint or a sinner merely by the colour of the mud on your boots'; and the last, the talkative wis.; cracking detective of the Philo 'Nance Va, ' iet j'- . • ' P TT But here in the ancient city of Havre in the year 100!) we had an actual tlesh-„arul-blood solver of puzzles who proved himself a shrewder observer of things than Sherlock Holmes —and a much greater lovet* of silence than Philo Vance. A Thinking Machine. All of the facts known to the police were explained to Professor Reiss. and then he was taken to the scene of the tragedy. The Chief of Police and his assistants did most of the talking. The professor did the thinking for all of them. He walked slowly up and down the sidewalk before entering the house, as if he were trying to get the atmosphere of the placfc. Alter ho entered he made a tour of the whole house prior to going to the room where the murder had occurred. That was something the police had not dope, When they were reminded of the Omission one of them exclaimed: "I never

significant properties in a drop of water or a speck of dust did not feci that it was beneath hie dignity to analyse 6inall things. "Well," remarked one of the policemen, "you do not seem, to have found anything out.of the ordinary." , "Oil, yes, I have," was the confident reply. "If you will take this glass and look at the spot I indicate you will discover something." The officer did so, and admitted that the scientist was right. On the floor were four drops of human blood! A Few Grease Spots. That was interesting and might have been expected in an apartment where a murder had been committed. But these particular drops of blood were at the entrance to the room. It confirmed the statement of the professor that the intruder had cut himself when lie was making his way into the house. That was not all. On the other side of the passage leading into the room were several grease spots. "What of that?" asked the chief of police. "Not much." smiled the professor, "except that it proves that the murderer was carrying a lighted candle. These are the drippings from the candle." Once again he stooped down and began his search of the floor. It would seem that lie had exhausted the evidence by this time. But not so. In a few minutes ho arose and exhibited two long bits of hair that had fallen near the table where the woman sat. It was suggested that these hairs had conic from the woman's head. "Xo," was his quiet retort, "Madame Fallot had grey hair, and these bits of hair are red. They are the hairs of a man. They are rough and bristly, and hence they came from his moustache and not from his head." The Officials Are Astounded. The Havre officials were astounded by these remarks, but they were not in a position to contradict them. They waited in silence while the scientist opened his wallet and stowed the hair in with the other exhibit he had found. Then he stooped down on the floor again and scooped up some of the candle-drippings, which he handed to the chief of police. "These candles were not manufactured in Havre or in any part of 1' ranee. I know that wo do not use that sort of material in this country. I that you send one of your men to the feuiete in Paris. Take them to the chemist there and ascertain from him where they were made. The sooner the better—for lam convinced that we are now on the trail of the murderer." . So a man was sent post-haste to Paris. Tt was some hours before lie returned, and in the meanwhile Professor Reiss sat in his studv musing over the discoveries lie had made thus far. Presently the messenger came back and brought with .him an important bit of information. It was that candles made of the materials of which these drippings were composed were made only in Sicily. Spots at the Cupboard. Having had his suspicions confirmed to this extent, Professor Reiss returned to the house of murder and made another examination. It was in the form of additional bits of grease on the floor of the room.

This time, however, they were directly in front of the cupboard where the unfortunate woman kept her savings. He was now convinced that the man —whoever he might have been—had killed the woman and then made his way to the cupboard to steal the money that was kept there. There were other candle drippings in the hallway. The little scientist, who looked at one so quietly from behind his steel-rimmed spectacles, was satisfied. He had traced tlie intruder from the time he had entered the house until he had left it, and all by means of a blood-stained splinter, a few blood spots and the drippings from a candle. ' Moreover, the respective positions of the blood stains and the candle drippings convinced him that the fellow was lefthanded. He was now in a ppsition to declare his theory. It was that the murder had been committed by a man with the following marks or characteristics: — Dr. Reiss Sums Up. Ho was a sailor. He came from Sicily. He had a red moustache. He had a cut on his left hand. He was left-handed. His motive was robbery. From that time on the police assumed charge of the hunt for the prisoner, although the scientist continued to work for them and to speculate upon when and where and how the unnamed murderer was to be arrested. The first move they made was to go to the Customshouse and scan the book containing the arrivals and clearances of vessels from Italy. It was discovered that a ship called the Donna Maria had arrived in Havre from Sicily only 48 hours before. Two detectives were at once assigned to visit this vessel and inspect the members' of the crew in hope ot finding a red-haired and red-moustaclied sailor who was lefthanded and had a cut on his left hand. In the meantime the men who had been assigned to the Donna Maria were having their o\*n troubles. Practically all of the sailors were on shore leave, and the few who were on the boat, did not answer to the description of the intruder who had murdered the unfortunate woman in the Passage des Murthurins. The mate who was in charge exhibited his names of the men as they were shown on the ship's books, but that did not mean anything to the investigators.

Tile big fellow lurched over to tlie side of the ship and gazed into the waters, thinking his own thoughts. The chief of police walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. The sailor turned suddenly and confronted the officer with a terrible frown on his weather-beaten face. - "What do you want?" he shouted. "I want you to come with me to the station house, Forfarzzo," said ' the policeman sternly. "Want me!" leered the man with the red moustache. "And pray why do you want me?" • "For the murder of Marie Pallot!" came the reply with the unexpectedness of a rifle shot. The effect of this was disappointing. Forfarzzo did not turn pale, and did not tremble in his shoes. On the contrary, ho looked at the chief of police stolidly, and presently said, in a tone intended to dismiss the subject: "You're • crazy—l don't know what you are talking about." "Yes, you do," was the heated retort, "and you are going to go with me." As the chief said these words he blew Ills whistle, and the other two policcmen joined them. They laid hold of the accused man by either arm, but as they did so, Forfarzzo let out an awful oath, and drawing himself up to his full height, by a violent movement of his arms threw them aside. One of the men slipped on the smooth deck and went sprawling into the scuppers.. But almost immediately the three policemen went after the brawny fellow again, and then followed a battle which should be included among the epics of the sea.

His Moustache Was Red. So they stationed themselves in a little sentry-box on the dock and watched all who passed to and from the boat. It was a long and tiresome vigil, but at last it was rewarded. One evening just about dusk a big lumbering fellow in sailor's attire made his way along tlie dock and walked up the gangplank. He was in high spirits and apparently had been having his share of the Havre wine. He was far from handsome, but there was one thing about him that caught and held the attention of the watchers. He had a bristly red moustache! As soon as his bulky form had disappeared down the forecastle, one of the detectives sought the mate and asked for information concerning this man. He was spoken of as "Reddy" Forfarzzo, and he was held in wholesome awe by the remainder of the crew. It appeared that he had signed up for this voyage with great eagerness because he was "broke" and needed the money. It was not his first trip to Havre by any means, but he was a happy-go-lucky fellow who could not work while he had a dollar in his pocket. From further inquiries that were made it 6eemed that in the last 24 hours he had been spending money with the lavishness which is characteristic of that type of seaman. Where did he get the money? Like a Drunken Sailor. That was both a question and an accusation. He had only been given a small part of his pay when the ship arrived at Havre, and the manner in which he was scattering his cash right and left was entirely out of proportion to his legitimate means. It was decided to wait until the next morning, and then put him under arrest. At the appointed hour the gendarmes were at hand, accompanied by the Chief of Police and Professor Keiss. It was decided to take him by surprise by frankly charging him with the crime. The theory was that he would then break down and confess everything. As they talked in whispers, the sailor from Sicily came from below. He was a tough-looking customer, was this man with his ragged trousers and his thread-bare pea-jacket. There was a cut on his left hand. His hair was closely cropped, and he was tugging away at His brightly red moustache —tugging at it, probably in precisely the way he did when two of the hairs fell on the floor of the I'oom in the Passage ties Murthurins. A Cool Customer. Professor Peiss very discreetly remained in the background. This gentle scientist was much at home when he was examining fingerprints and demonstrating how one hair can differ from another, but he would have been quite out of place in a rough-and-tumble combat with this giant of the sea. «

In the midst of it the mate of the Donna Maria produced a pistol, and aiming it at Forfarzzo calmly informed him that if he did not quit his brains would be blown out. Only he did not say it in these words.

But the rebellious sailor instantly recogniscd the authority of the sea and submitted to arrest.

Onco in the station house they made a search of liis clothing. They found the customary things, such as a plug of tobacco, a ball of twine, a red handkerchief and some loose money. They found something else in the pocket of his jacket that seemed commonplace enough, but which was really sensational.

A Candle Stump. It was the stump of a cantlle' made of the same material as the candle grease that was found on the floor of the room of the murdered woman. That was the final bit of evidence to connect this red-haired and red-mous-tached sailor with the tragedy of Marie Fallot. When he found he was trapped, and that all of the circumstances were against him, Forfarzzo made a complete confession. The substance of it was as follows: "I had been to this woman's house several times, and it did not take me long to discover that she was in the habit of buying smuggled stuff from the sailors who came into the port. She bought smuggled brandy from me. and both of us made a good thing of it. Twice during ray time ashore I stayed at her house, and in this way became acquainted with her habits. It was during one of my visits that I found that she kept her money on the upper shelf of the cupboard in hpr room. Some evil spirit whispered to me, 'Why not get her money? It will be easy, and it will do you more good than it does her.' "One night I went there, and we drank until she hardly knew what she was doing. It was then that becoming incautious she went to the cupboard for some change. But she was still alert enough to keep an eye on me, and I resolved to wait for a better opportunity. I determined

that it would be on my next visit to Havre. The thought of the robbery obsessed me, and I could hardly wait until we got into port again. "But finally the Donna Maria sailed into tlio dock here just two days ago, and I made up my mind that I must go ahead with the job or give it up altogether. When I got to her house in the Passage dee Murthurins, I was disappointed to find the door locked. Was she in, or was she out? In any event 1 felt that I could get the money. So I forced my way into the place. I had brought some brandy with me, confident that she would indulge in it and thus make my task easier. I carried a sling-shot in case I was disturbed. I .want you to know that I did not intend to use this unless I was compelled to do so. "I cut my hand in making my way through the outer door, but I did not notice it at the time. When P reached her roem I found that she was asleep at the table. She had not lit her lamp, but I could make out her form in the gloom. I assumed that she was intoxicated, and thought I could get what I was after without her knowledge. So I stole into the room and reached the cupboard without disturbing her. I was kneeling to examine it, when I heard a movement behind me. I jumped up and hit her with the shot—and then completed the robbery." The story deserves a place in the archives of crime because of the peculiar conclusiveness of fhe circumstantial evidence. The man never dreamed that he would be caught, and yet lie was brought to the foot of the guillotine by means of a tiny splinter of wood, four drops of blood, two bristly red hairs and a few grease spots.