TOLD BY THE POLICE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 314, 29 September 1908, Page 7

TOLD BY THE POLICE.

CRIME AND CRIMINALS. RECOLLECTIONS GRAVE AND CAY. PECULIAR CASES IN NEW ZEALAND. VI. '' I '® s a ]l a chequer-board of Nights and Days Where Destiny with men for Pieces plays: Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, ; And one by ono back in tho Closet lays." • The following police stories of crime and criminals heard from time to time are refold M Dcar 'y as Possible as they were A HOTEL ROBBERY. A telephone message was jeceived at tho detective office late at night intimating that a sum of money had been stolen from a country hotel not a hundred miles 'from ono of the chief centres of the Dominion, and asking that a. detective should be sent out at once to investigate. The first train that left the city next morning carried a dctective who, on arrival at the hotel in question, was /?en rl ? e 4 ky landlord .that the sum of £50 had been stolen from a portmanteau nr bedroom. The money consisted of ono £o note, several single notes and the remainder was in silver. The only occupants of the hotel at the time were tho landlord (an old man), his daughter, a young lady friend, a son of tho landlord, and a liawkor. It appeared that on t(io day the theft happened tho old man went for a drive at 2 p.m. and on returning at 5 p.m. found that the portmanteau had been burst open and the money stolen. The hawker was suspected by tho landlord, as he had stayed at tho hotel overnight and had left early in the morning. The detective arrived at the hotel about three hours after tho departure of the hawker, and his preliminary inquiries brought him into touch with tho young lady friend who was confident that tho hawker had committed the ■ theft. ' |' An Attractive Female. Tho young woman was about 22 years of age, a lady of prepossessing looks and highly respectable family, and suspicion could not rest on her. An'interview with each of the inmates of the house ended in the dctective setting off in pursuit of the hawker, who was located at a neighbouring village. The hawker stoutly denied any knowledge of the offence, and producing his all—£2—accounted for it by various sales at wayside houses, which sale 3 inquiry proved to bo genuine. Returning to .the scene of the robbery about 2 _ p.m. _ tho detective got into conversation: with Miss H , the young lady friend, who was seated on the verandah with the perennial novel. The police officer, after some light spurring, hazarded a shot in the dark, saying pomt-blank, "Tho hawker told me he could tell mo something about you." The lady was moved, and springing to her feet exclaimed, 'Oh 1 did ho—well 'I could tell something about him if I liked." Following up thb advantage tho detective pressed nis nowfound acquaintance, who intimated that tho hawker had told her in the bar the previous night that he had stolen tho money and had asked her to say nothing about it. At this stage the', hawker hove in sight mounted on a bicycle, and making towards the hotel. "Tako ;him into tho bar and have a yam with him and let me know tho result," was the detective's instructions to the lady. The detectivo kept out of the way and the hawk<lr, after a stay of about half-an-hour, departed whence ho came. "Well, what luck?" said the officer when he met the lady. "Oh! ho only came back to see me and tell me to bo sure and not give him away, and that if I came over to the township to-night ho would make mo a present of the £5 note,'' was tho glib reply.

The Plot Thickens. The officer agreed to drive her over to the township that night, and this,was done. About a quarter of a mile from the town tho gig Was pulled up and, the young lady set out alone ; for the hotel where the liawker was staying. She returned half-an-hour later and handed the .dotectivo tho £5 note, the note being in an opened envelope addressed to the young lady together with a letter. She had'not seen tho hawker, but he had left tho note for her. The letter ran: —"Dear Miss , sorry I could not' see you this evening as I have been called away and will not bo able to keep tho appointment. Enclosed you will find the £5 note. Apologising for not being able to wait.—From sincerely yours, — Brown." Tho detective -was not altogether satisfied with matters, and on returning to the soene of the robbery reviewed the wuole case in the seclusion of his room. At 4 o'clock next morning the policeman was up and moving towards the haunt of the hawker, who was questioned as to the letter and the £5. Tho hawker denied any knowledge of. the letter or the £5, and refuted the statement that he had at any time admitted to Miss that he had stolen tho money. Would ho come back to tho hotel with' the detective and hear for himself what Miss had to say ? Yes, of course ho would, and away the pair started. Tho detective saw tho young lady privately, and'asked her if she was prepared to swear on oath in Court to what snoliad said about the hawker. Most certainly she', would. She knew what sho would have to do if the man was arrested, and, further, sho was prepared to meet' the hawker face to face an£ make tho accusation against him. A Point-blank Charge, i The dotectivo then brought the two together, and the lady ; in the presence of tho officer and the son of the publican, made the statement that the hawker had told her ho had stolen the money and had arranged to return the £5 note, etc. r The hawker still protested his innocence, and accused tho lady of deliberate lying. The detective was still not satisfied, and said he was not going to arrest the hawker, whereupon tho'son of tho licensee said he : had heard tho hawker tell Miss the previous afternoon that ho had stolen the money, and that if sho wont over at night she could get the £5. The plot had thickencd visibly,' and hero was a dilemma for tho- detective. , Tho son of tho licensee was called outside, and asked why ho had not made his statement the previous afternoon. .The interview was not satisfactory, and the detective absolutely refused to arrest tho hawker. — : Open Confession. Tho evidence against the hawker was strong, but the detective could not get it out of his mind that tho lady was not as innocent as sho pretended to be. Next day, however,!after a trip to the city, he returned to tho hotel at which tho robbery occurred and .arrested tho young lady friend on tho charge of stealing tho money. Tho lady had not sufficient resourco loft to battle any longer, and made a statement to the effect that tno offenco had been committed by her and the landlord's soil, the money being hidden in tho garden. The money was recovered and tho son of tho publican was also . arrested, and in duo course the hawker waa called upon to givo ovidcnco at tho trial of tho fair schemer. ■ • ■

WOULD-BE INFORMERS. Tho Chinaman is keen after inonby, and is not above "beating" a European if ho sees an opening. A storekeeper had been murdered in Otago, and tho circumstances were such that the police were satisfied that tho murder had been committed by a Chinaman, but there were a number of them in the district, and no particular nian was suspected. Tho detective who was sent tn inquire into the matter enlisted tlio sen :■ of a friendly Chinaman, and got him t,> |. a notice in Chinese offering :> reward I'm formation that would lead to Ibe ccm ii i of tho murderer. He then nricstrd sen Chinamen who might possibly h» \> roihi- ii tho inurder, and placed tlionV in a r>vt:>>' *: the_ notice was posted up. As sonn a.notico was seen nearly every Chinnm;', tho room was jabbering and "wanting' ti,"' • tho detective. Tho ruse successful in'* far as tho detective gained sudicient tion from the batch of arrested men to unable liim to procure oridonoo Which led to the arrest of one of them as tho murderer. Tito alien was executed in duo course. Tho arresting of a few Chinamo.n wore or loxs did not matter in tho out-district whore the murdor happened, and it served a ■ useful nmv. gosai ■< • *