THE VICTIM'S MISSING TOOTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10970, 26 January 1899, Page 5

THE VICTIM'S MISSING TOOTH.

Had Constable Organ himself gone through life with the teeth of his upper jaw intact, it is possble that the tragedy of the Yarra would have been a mystery still. But, as it happened (writes tie Argus), he had the good fortune to lose one of his incisors a few years back, and, in consequence of Iris own shortcomings, it was only natural that he should have taken particular notice of all persons who had met with a similar misfortune. It was thus that the identity of Mabel Ambrose came to be fixed. Organ had taken a particular interest in the case from the first-, and had even spent one of the days he was on leave in visiting the scene of the spot where the boot trunk was thrown into tho river. Accordingly, lie was one of the first constables to obey the order of the Chief Commissioner of Police, and visit the Morgue, to see if lie could identify the head of the victim. He looked upon" the face without having the slightest knowledge of having seen it before, and it was only when he was passing behind the table where the head lay that he noticed the back of the head seemed to be very small, and entirely out of proportion to" the swollen features of the deceased. The poll, in fact, appeared to Organ's eyes to be that of a young girl, and he set to work to try and remember any girls with missing incisors who had ever come under his notice. His first thought was that the head might, be that of a girl whom he had known as a resident of another part of South Yarrn, but, having satisfied himself that she was alive and well, he recommenced taxing his memory for others. The result was that he suddenly thought of the girl Ambrose, whom lie distinctly remembered as having the left incisor missing from her jaw. The face, however, was so unlike hers that he had little expectation of ever establishing the identification ; but, 011 his remembering having once heard another girl speak to Ambrose about her condition, he decided to make inquiries at once. He visited Mrs. Ambrose, only to find her assert that her daughter was all right, and that she had no scar on her forehead as in the case of the severed head; but, notwithstanding this rebuff, he went to the house at 73. Osborne-street, and there asked Dubberke what had become of Mabel Ambrose. Dubberke replied that she had gone away to get married, but Organ told the girl that he did not intend to rest until he had found the girl herself. Madame Radalski was not known to Organ, for she had been living in the place only about sixweeks, and it was, in addition, in the police district of Prahran.