“YARD” BAFFLED

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 June 1936, Page 9

“YARD” BAFFLED

“MYSTERIOUS BLACK CLOUD.” A woman crook, so clever and elusive that she is so far unknown and unclassified in any criminal record, is causing some concern to Scotland Yard and Home Counties police forces. Several robberies recently have borne signs indicating they were the work of a woman. But fingerprints found had no duplicate filed at Scotland Yard. In a Belgravia house raid a stylishlydressed woman, young and of good appearance, was seen to enter the: residence by the servants’ quarters. Little notice was taken of her, for it was assumed she was a bona-fide visitor.

Shortly after, however, it was discovered that a jewel box had been raided and the choicest gems taken. Inquiries revealed that the woman, after leaving the’’ servants’ entrance, ) rejoined an older woman waiting some distance down the street! :

Tn another raid, 25 miles from London, a woman’s small-sized glove wtVf found. No one in.the household own-( cd a glove of that kind or wore such a\ small size. There was, of course, the'\ possibility that the glove had been de- \ liberately left behind by men to mislead the police. Not many months ago women crocks were causing a lot of trouble in London by raids which displayed amazing effrontery and daring. In one case ‘a. woman calmly raided a West End house, visited a number of rooms, removed < jewellery, and even want into a room where the titled occupier of the premises was resting. The intruder also interrupted . the servants at tea, but apologised for’intruding and left hurriedly.

A few months ago a woman accomplice of country house thieves was being sought in the Home Counties. Stylishly dressed and with beautifullykept grey hair, she was believedto be chauffeuse of a big car used by the raiders.

Most of London’s cleverest women crooks are in goal. One reeenjly sent to prison had 31 offences to her record in a year. ■ • •

Another was a receiver of stolen property, wjiilo yet another was described by the police as the keeper 6f a thieves’ kitchen in the East End of London ,and one of the cleverest lOck-pickers in the criminal world.