COURT HOODWINKED

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 September 1930, Page 11

COURT HOODWINKED

COMEDY IN PARIS. There are more little comedies in the Palais de Justice in Paris than most people suspect. A man who recently had his pocket-book stolen was informed by the police that the pick pocket had been arrested, and he was invited to present himself at the office of the examining magistrate. There he found nearly a dozen other people who had- been robbed, and presently the prisoner was led in. The stolen objects were exhibited on the magistrate’s desk. First a woman identified one of them. The thief, having verified her name and address, said: “Yes, madame, this is yours. I stole it from you.” Other objects were identified and their theft admitted by the prisoner after he had verified the names and addresses of the claimant, for he was a methodical man who kept a record of his own misddeds. Then came the question of identifying the contents of a small packet very carefully tied with strong string. The magistrate and the police officers tried in vain to undo the knot, and after much fumbling and hesitation, in the end the string was cut. And only then was it discovered that the prisoner, taking advantage of the general preoccupation with the parcel, had walked out of the place and disappeared _________