THIEF OUTWITS JEWELLER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22540, 3 October 1936, Page 2 (Supplement)

THIEF OUTWITS JEWELLER

Great Haul of Uncut Diamonds

ROBBERY FROM SHOP WINDOW WHICH POLICE PASSED EVERY THREE MINUTES

MR. A. SOLOMON, dealer in diamonds and other articles of jewellery, was almost famous in New York business circles for his acumen, shrewdness and cunning, writes Charles Kingston in the Yorkshire Weekly Post. The little, round-faced, bald-headed man was no boaster and he was not addicted to garrulity, but the dark grey eyes exuded intelligence and there was something impressive in his quiet, confid<yit manner. "No crook Bhall ever rob me," he would sometimes say, "not because I consider myself too clever to be swindled, but because I go out of my way to protect my property." It follows as a matter of course that Mr. Solomon did a considerable trade and that now and then he was engaged in buying and selling large consignments of precious stones. One such transaction to which he paid very careful attention was the disposing of sixty thousands pounds' worth of diamonds in the American market. Great Deal of Money The deal meant a great deal of money to Mr. Solomon, promising not only a big immediate profit, but the share in the American business of an important and wealthy Amsterdam firm, and it was up to him, therefore, to see that it was carried out from beginning to end without a, hitch. There must be no publicity, no danger of robbery and no delay. He had already committed himself to an undertaking to dispose of the uncut stones at an agreed price to an American speculator in diamonds, and one of his plans to ensure against burglary was to hand over the diamonds to the buyer as soon as possible after' their arrival in New York. But that was only one precaution. Mr. Solomon was shrewd enough to appreciate the fact that there were other clever people in the world, especially among the crooks who made a speciality of robbing jewellers' shops. They would hear about his latest consignment of uncut diamonds, and they

the door himself and m person super, intended the placing of the large steel box in the inn do w of his shop. That was at seven o'clock on a Tuesday evening,"and at eight Mr. Solomon and his staff of three assistants left the shop. It was now almost dark and for a lew seconds they stood on the pavement admiring- tfie*b»illiant concentration of electric light on the temporary home of sixty thousand pound's worth of uncut diamonds. The policeman on duty strolled up and joined them, g| T . ing Mr. Solomon another flattering testimonial to his acumen before pro. ceeding on his way. That morning he bad been interviewed at his home by the jeweller who had promised him "a very substantial "tip" if he carried out his promise to pass tlie illuminated shop window at least once in every three minutes. A Hasty Summons That was on Tuesday night, as has been mentioned already, and by eight on Thursday morning Mr. Solomon was summoned hastily to his shop so that he might see for himself that the information of the robbery of the uncut stones which had been telephoned to him was true in substance and in fact. The cause of Mr. Solomon's unexpected defeat and disaster may be summed up in two words. Jim Car. ruthers. In the New York underworld they appreciated the perverted cleverness of Jim and swore that he was a genius. It did not lessen him at all in their estimation that for all his alleged genius Jim was generally very hard-up. He was always full of ideas and delighted in taking risks which scared everybody else. That was why when he heard of Mr. Solomon's pending trans, action in diamonds he resolved to get the stones for himself. Hitherto, although he had been associated with more than one big robbery, his share of the profits had been negligible, for receivers of stolen goods pay but a small proportion of the value of articles which can easily be identified. But as soon as Jim heard all about Mr. Solomon's latest deal he became enthusiastic. Here was the very opportunity for which he had been waiting. Uncut diamonds were almost as good as sold and the stingiest "fence" would pay at least half their market value. It would be worth while attempting to circumvent the crafty jeweller, and as a preliminary to his campaign Jim Carruthers, suitably disguised in the

would be sure to make a special effort to get hold of them in view of the fact that it would be the easiest thing in the world to render them unidentifiable. A less experienced person might have decided to carry the stones about him on his person. Mr. Solomon had done that once in his younger days and had nearly paid for it with his life. On another occasion even an armed guard had not saved him from attack, and naturally enough, the jeweller valued his own life much more than he did his stock. No, he must leave the diamonds for nt least two nights in the shop safe. The latter was a comparatively recent purchase and was guaranteed by its manufacturers to be burglar-proof. Mr. Solomon had known many burglar-proof safes which had been "cracked" in a few minutes, and was of opinion that the manufacturers exaggerated, but he agreed with them that an expert crackman aided by the most modern tools of his peculiar trade would take at least a quarter of an hour to force the lock, and Mr. Solomon required no more than a time limit of fifteen minutes to render it impossible for a successful theft to be perpetrated. Expert Crooks It gave him a considerable amount of trouble to evolve a perfect scheme of defence against the expert crooks who would have him in their thoughts from the moment they heard his little shop contained in one convenient parcel sixty thousand pounds' worth of uncut diamonds, and he was beginning to despair ot achieving a solution of the problem when a brilliant idea occurred to him. Expressed as briefly as possible, the idea was that the safe containing the stones should be placed in the shop window with all the lights turned on from dusk to dawn and in full view of the policeman who passed the shop every three minutes. it was, therefore, with the greatest confidence and in the happiest frame of mind that Mr. Solomon himself placed the packet of stones in one of the inner drawers of the safe, locked

habiliments of a centieman, dropped in at Mr. Solomon s shop and made a small purchase. He did not manage to catch a glimpse of the proprietor, but what struck him as curious was the illsuppressed chuckles of his assistants. They seemed extraordinarily well pleased with themselves, and Mr. Carruthers, lounging in a neighbouring bar, wondered as he drank what was the reason for it. The Scene-painter He was soon enlightened for that bar was a favourite resort of Mr. Solomqn « staff, who were on friendly terms with the Bartender. It was, the latter who, encouraged by Jim's invitation to an expensive drink, whispered to him details of the very clever scheme Mr. Solomon had conceived in order j that the most expert jewel thieves in New York should be outwitted. Jim listened with the keenest interest, and at the conclusion voiced his appreciation of the jeweller's astuteness. As quickly as possible Mr. Jim Carruthers was on his way to interview an old friend of his who had once been an expert scene-painter and who had gradually descended into the underworld by means of drink and petty criminality. A weak, spiritless creature wa9 this unwilling associate of crooks;, a thin, shrivelled-up caricature of a man who cadged for drinks and existed in , a state of destitution and terror. When, therefore, his visitor did no more than commission a cardboard imitation of the front and two vides of MrSolomon's safe, and guarantee him 8 large fee for his services, provided the work was done at once, he whined for joy. "It'll be ready for you to-night," he said. "Just give me an idea of the size and—" "You've got to come along and have a look at it first," said Jim. "It'll be on view to-night, and 1 want to do the trick the night after." In company with Jim Carruthers the artist mingled with tho little crowd which assembled that Tuesday night IB front of Mr. Solomon's shop as soon as the illuminated safe drew the attention of everybody to it, and it was; easy enough for him to note down any peculiarities it possessed, and to absorb the colour scheme. A Clever Euse A few hours later he had completed what might have been ail imitation safe, although it consisted of three square pieces of cardboard only, t llO middle one of which was an almost perfect replica of the door of the sale, and it must have been some time about midnight on Wednesday that Jim Carruthers slipped the artist's work oyer the safe in the window and then, wit the aid of a confederate drew the sate back into the office, leaving the imitation to deceive the policeman who three minutes paused to glance at wna he took to be the undisturbed proper y of the jeweller. . . With the safe at their mercy m tne shop the two men opened it at tne leisure and without any need for has took possession of the uncut s *° ue ' Then they made their as quietly they had made their entrance, a right until he went off duty the P o '. 1 man continued his inspection, occasi . ally giving vent to a chuckle of »PP' ■ ciation of the astuteness o! the cle Mr. Solomon. And, as we have seen, it was _ until the first assistant arrived to ope the shop on Thursday morning ano augurate another day's business . the theft was discovered, a menior theft if only for the fact tha't ' O . first time in his thirty years of busi experience Mr. Solomon had been witted.