TALES & SKETCHES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 880, 11 January 1889, Page 8

TALES & SKETCHES.

DETECTIVE EXPERIENCES,

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]. MEIKLEJOHN’S

Related by Himself. ANOTHER DIAMOND ROBBERY. It must, from the perusal of my last article and the general tenour of my remarks, have struck many of my readers that the success of a detective mainly depends upon his dit* crimination in paying informants and in judicious bribery. I have 1 no hesitation in recording my conviction that those who think so are right. There are not many walks in life in which a man who knows Whom and what to pay, when to speak and When to hold his tofague, will not come to to the front. Few, however, consider the risks that a detective runs of losing hia money entirely—for, unless he can show some return, the sums expended by him are not repaid by the authorities —and how this fear of ultimate loss : damps his ardour and cramps his action. Between him and the informant there is always a keen intellectual contest rife, the latter trying to obtain as much, and the former to pay as little as possible. All’s well that ends well, and, upon an arrest or committal taking place, all sums out of pocket are refunded, but many an artfully 1 concocted piece of information ends in snioke, and the shilling or half-crown that has elicited it disappears for ever. In the last case I ran a great risk in keeping on with Hamer, and paying him small sums from week to week ; though all came right In the end, as upon the arrest of the General and Fred, the whole of my expenses out of my pocket were recouped me. From that date until the trial, Hamer, Masters, and Archer were each allowed 2s 6d a day by the Treasury, aid I was relieved from my position of paymaster. Although I eventually did very well in this ease—for Lady i Maradeu and her daughter eaoh presented me

with ten, and Messrs Hunt and Roskell with fifteen guineas, - still, it was one ol the 4 plums ’ that sometimes fall to our lot, and which constitute an incentive to risk and work. I am sorry to say that in our calling 4 crab apples,’ as well as plumß, abound, and that the reward is seldom apportioned to the property recovered—-in fact, very frequently proceeds in an inverse ratio to it. It is more, therefore, as a contrast to the liberality of jewellers, than for its intrinsic interest, that I give the details of the robbery I am about to relate. It must be borne in mind that Messrs Hunt and Roskell never recovered a single penny in respect of tbe diamond bracelet stolen from them, and that their costs of prosecution and inquiry were protracted and exceedingly heavy ; Dot, in spite of their losses, they did not forget poor 4 Pill Garlick,’ who did the work. I fear I cannot say as much for the firm of which I am about to treat, and which, curiously enough, had been established by two of their assistants shortly after the prosecution and conviction of the General. A MISSING DIAMOND. It was, no doubt, in consequence of their acquaintance with me in this matter that the jewellers in question, whom I will describe as Black and Co., in the spring of 1875 sought my assistance under the following circumstances. It appears that one of their customers, a Captain in the army, had entrusted to them a diamond cross, valued at £SOO, for the purpose of sale on commission at the beat price that could be obtained. As a matter of oourse, the owner called to Esee if the article had been disposed of, but the Invariable reply was, 4 that no customer had aa yet been found.’ Eventually, becoming impatient at the delay, he called at the shop and requested that his property might be returned to him. The manager, as it happened, was in sole charge of the Bhop, both the partners being away, and represented that he had not the custody of the article in question, but that he would deliver the message to his principals upon their return. A few days passed when the Captain, hearing nothing called again, and was informed that his property was out on approbation, that is, on sale, or return j as no doubt it was, but in a quarter where, as the Baying is, the odds as typified by the golden balls are two to one against the return. A week elapsed, and the owner, having determined that he would not brook any.further delay, called and saw one of the partners, and peremptorily demanded the return of his property. The manager was absent, and the cross could nowhere be found, nor was it even entered in the probation book as having been sent out j nor bad tfie fact of tho captain wishing lii- property back again ever been mentioned to either of the principals. On the manager’s return to the shop he was asked where the cross was, and he coolly replied 4 that he did not know, unless it was in the safe.’ The safe was now examined, as well as every other conceivable receptacle in whioh it might have been mislaid, but it could nowhere be found, and, at the termination of this fruitless search, I was consulted in tbe matter. I questioned them as to who had access to the jewellery, and, more especially, to the missing diamond cross, and was informed that no one had, except themselves and the manager, in whom they bad the most implicit confidence, having known him and his family for years. I replied that it was a most mysterious affair, unless it had been sent out on appro, bation and its entry in the book omitted, but they said that, under their system, such an oversight would be impossible. OTHER VALUABLE PROPERTY GONE. I then told them that they must go through the whole of their stock, and see if everything else was safe. This they did, and the next morning discovered that, in addition to the cross, upwards of £I,OOO worth of other diamond jewellery was missing. The manager was, upon this day, absent without leave, but ho sent a message to say that he waß ill, and would be at business upon the following morning. In due course bs returned to his duties, but had no explanation or theory to oiler that would account for the lost property. Matters went on thus for a few days, when further search revealed the fact that an additional £SOO worth of goods had disappeared, making with the cross a round total of about £2,000. A description of all the missing articles was now circulated amongst all the pawnbrokers and jewellers in London, and stringent inauiries were made; but with no result, as nothing was traced, or any elucidation of this mysterious robbery elicited. THE MANAGER ACCUSES THE PARTNERS. The manager—who in reality was only an assistant, but who was fully tmsted by and represented the partners in their absence—now, in a clandestine manner and unknown to His principals, called at Scotland Yard, saw my chief, and made some unwarrantable aspersions on the character of his employers. He insinuated that they themselves were the thieves, and were making away with their property as a preparatory step to bankruptcy. This serious imputation on the character of the firm was communicated to me, and I was

warned to be cautious; I now became thoroughly confirmed in my opinion that the veritable thief was no other than the manager, and to him alone I henceforward directed my attentions. The question was how to fix him • for no information could be obtained from the pawnbrokers or through the trade, and I had no reason to suspect that he had accomplices in his roguery. My next step was to inquire from the partners whether he had, on any occasion, taken out jewellery to sell, or collected accounts, and, if he had done so, in what form he brought back the money, and, if in notes, what were the numbers aud denominations of those paid in by him. An investigation was accordingly made into the cas > account, and revealed the fact that credit for three £5 notes had been given him upon a recent occasion. Ascertaining the numbers of them from the bankers of the firm, I found that they had been issued upon a certain day by the Bank of England to a bank at Knightsbridge. Thither I at once repaired, and ascertained that the identical notes had been re-issued by this bank to one of their customers, a pawnbroker in the neighbourhood, the very day that they had been paid by the manager to his employers. INTERROGATING THE PAWNBROKER. Upon this I at once tackled the pawn, broker, and asked him if he knew such a person as the manager in question, at the same time naming him. Thus interrogated he denied that he did, and I thereupon asked him to refer to his jewellery book and see if he took in any diamonds upon that day, and, [ if he did, whether he knew the parties from whom he received them. His answer was that he took in diamonds every day, and that sometimes he knew the parties dealing with him and sometimes he did not. 1 then asßed him if I might- look at the book, to which he replied that he was not justified in disclosing the nameß of his customers. In fact, he continued to 4 block ’ me by some paltry shuffling excuse at every move I made, and beginning to lose my patience with him, I insisted upon knowing to whom, and for what, he paid the three £5 notes in question. His back was now at the wall, and as no further subterfuge or evasion of my demand was possible, he point blank refused to tell me. I thereupon threw my card upon his counter, aud, observing that I knew a great deal more about the matter than he thought I did, and that I should have ooeasiou very shortly to seek another interview with him under what, on his account, might prove more unpleasant aud unfavourable circumstances, left the shop and went back again to Messrs Black and Co. After remaining a short time at their establishment I returned to Scotland Yard, and was informed that the pawnbroker had just left, and wanted to see me most particularly, and as soon as possible. Heigho, thought I to myself, I must at last have fired a shot that has told, and, pretty confident that I had 4 struck ile,’ made tracks with all speed in the direction of Knightsbridge. THE ICE BROKEN. On arrival at my destination I at once per* ceived that ‘Uncle ’ was in a very perturbed state of mind, and prepared to * climb down.' Calling me into his private room he forth* with proceeded to liberate 4 pussy ’ from tho bag. 4 1 don’t know what I shall do,’ he said, 4 1 much fear that I am a ruined man, for I find that I have advanced over £3OO on jewellery and diamonds to the same person who had those three £5 notes.’ He produced the various lots, and amongst them were the stones taken from the diamond oross, whioh had been broken up. Upon this I gave him notice to detain all, and after a good deal of beating about the bush, I got from him a description of the pledger, and eventually his real name, and found it was no other than Messrs Black and Co.’s trusted assistant and manager, and the same man who had represented to the Csptain that his cross was out on approbation. ALL ON TWO POUNDS TEN SHILLINGS A WEEK. I now went back again to Messrs Black and Co., and advised them of my discovery ; but, by the time I got to their establishment, the shop was closed, and the manager had left for his own home. No time, however, was to be lost, for fear that a rumour might reach the delinquent, and cause him to put in 4 leg bailso, taking one of the partners with me, I proceeded to his house.?. We there found him, dressed in an evening suit, just sitting down to eight o’clock dinner with his wife, like any lord or gentleman, and all on £2 10s a week 1 Of course, I told him that he might consider himself in custody on the charge of stealing a large quantity of diamonds and jewellery from the shop of his employers, and forthwith searched the premises. I found several articles that had been stolen from them, as well as duplioates relating to others that had been pledged. I now took him to the pawnbroker, who, with his assistant, at once identified him, and from there he was conveyed to Marlborough Street, charged, and locked up for the night. The following morning he was taken before the magistrate and remanded for a week.' •* ‘ : TRACING £1,600 WORTH OF JEWELLERY. During this interval I succeeded in trao-

ing, including what had already been found, upwards of £1,600 worth of jewellery—independent of the diamond cross—which had been stolen by him from bis employers, and pledged with various pawnbrokers throughout London. He was duly committed for trial at the Central Criminal Court, and, pleading guilty, was sentenced to five years’ penal servitude, Of course application was at once made to tho judge by the various pawnbrokers who bad been victimised for a return of a portion of the money the? had advanced, which is usual on their giving back the property to the owner, provided that they have used duo discretion, and been guilty of no l&cbes, in taking it in. The Court was on the point of ordering a substantial return to be made, when I put a spoke in the wheel, and observed that I thought it right to state that a full deEOription of every article stolen had been sent to those who had made the advances, and full inquiries • subsequently instituted, and that one and all had not only denied having anything of the kind in their possession, but, until the bubble burst by the discovery I made through the three £5 notes, obstructed my investigations in every possible manner. * Very well,’ says the Recorder, * as that is so. I’ll read these pawnbrokers a lesson, and I order the whole of their property to be restored to Messrs Black and Co., without a farthing- of compensation.’ THE REWARD OF MERIT. Of course, the firm were most profuse in their thanks to me for my exertions on their behalf, for they had recovered all their lost property, and, professing their intention to make me a suitable present, inquired for my private address. Now for gold watches and chains for self and wife, thought I j or perhaps a nice service of silver plate to grace my sideboard on festive occasions. We have it on the authority of Solomon that the man who does uot expect too much won’t be disappointed at the final result. I was, —for on returning home the following day, I was informed by my wife that a silver-plated tea-pot had been forwarded to me by Messrs Black and Co., with a note intimating that, at their own expense, they would get any inscription I might wish or suggest engraved upon it. On inquiring ‘round the corner,’ and finding its retail value to be about thirty shillings, I did not move further in the matter, and to this day that valuable piece of presentation plate remains ‘uninscribed.’ ‘ COINERS AND SMASHERS.’ j In the early part of the year 1876, London was fairly infested with passers of bad coin, as many as forty or fifty prisoners frequently being charged with this class of offence at each recurring sessions. So serious at length did matters become, that a consultation took place between the judges and the Solicitor to tho Treasury, as to what means should be adopted and precautions initiated, to check this ever-growing phase of crime, with which the existing police arrangements seemed to bo entirely unable to cope. It was in tho lower branchoa of the art— the manufacture principally of shillings, florins, and half-crowns, that such a roaring trade waa beiDg done, but it is by the circulation of spurious coins of these denominations that the greatest annoyance and hardship of the imposture is caused, the loss falling chiefly upon struggling tradespeople and shopkeepers, and their poorest class of customers. Bad sovereigns . and half-sovereigns are principally passed in public-houses, and on a clas3 of people who are better able to afford the loss of twenty shillings than the small general dealer or tobacconist is of one or two. Besides, for every ‘ smasher ’ who deals with bad gold, there are a hundred who are engaged in passing spurious Bilver, and the ramifications and tricks of the trade are, in the lower branches, far more difficult to trace than they are in the upper. As the outcome, then, of this conference between the high legal authorities to whom I have adverted, it was decided that some police inspector should be specially appointed and told off to direct his attention exclusively to this pestilential nuisance, and if possible, arrive at the fountain head of the manufacture, and arrest the professors ; for it was evident that some more than ordinary skilled artisans were at work; many of the coins, which were rapidly accumulating at Scotland

Yard, being hardly discernible from sterling silver, unless submitted to a searching test. Ultimately I was selected for this particular duty, and very much against my will waa constrained to undertake it, for independently of having to embark on an entirely new line of detective inquiry I knew that my task would be unprofitable, even should I prove successful, as no rewards would be forthcoming, while petty expenses for which I could not chargo would be constantly incurred. However, there waa do help for it, and being promised from the first some indulgences and any assistance in the way of men that I might require, I embarked upon this, to me, novel ‘ graft,’ with a strong presentiment that at best I should not find it a ‘ paying game,’ and with serious misgivings lest I should fail in satisfying the expectations of those who considered me the right man for the work. Now I selected my men, and made certain arrangements for myself, or some of them, to see every person throughout the metropolis from time to time charged with * uttering,’ and the witnesses brought against them. My next step was to try and find a ‘nose,’ or informant, who was well in with the * smashing ’ fraternity ; and hero I had a great deal of trouble, and expended many a shilling without arriving at any tangible result. Eventually I did succeed in getting hold of a young chap, who knew no end of utterers, but none of the makers. My object, of course, from the outset, was to get hold of the manufacturers, as it was only possible in this way to lay bare the root of the evil and stamp it out. The greater the number of utterers the more work and business there is for the makers ; but in this case, as in many others, supply creates demand as well as demand supply. 1 TRACES OF A SKILFUL MANUFACTURER. I thus plodded along for some time, and eventually was brought, into connection with someone who knew a most notorious and skilful manufacturer, and, after the administration of a little palm grease, I induced him to enlist in my service and go to work, and to work he went with a will. In about a week or ten days he brought me the pleasing intelligence that the old and experienced hand, with whom he was acquainted, had taken a room jin a quiet neighbourhood in Camberwell ; and, after a few more days, I was advised that all the necessary materials were in the house, that the moulds were nearly finished, and that in a day or two they would be at work, as there were some very large orders on hand from the country, more especially for shillings and florins. I now never lost sight of the * factory,’ anxiously awaiting some sign that operations had commenced, aud that the nest when examined would not be found destitute of new laid eggs. It was not long before I was satisfied upon this point, for the beer jug began constantly to travel backwards and forwards between the public-house at the corner and the premises upon which I was keeping observation, showing that something more than an ordinary cause for thirst and stimulants was affecting, at any rate, one section of the inmates, for it was invariably the same emissary that went the errands. Unquestionably coining is thirsty work, a fierce and raging fire, for fusing the metal and drying the moulds, being in constant requisition. It was now my time to take action, and I knew exactly the point to make for, as the previous evening, during the absence of the inmates, I had quietly taken off my shoes and stockings and made a minute examination of the passage and house, so far as it was possible to do so without breaking in. My informant had supplied me with a pretty accurate plan of the interior, which I was thus able to supplement by a personal survey. I had two assistants in waiting, one of them instructed to be in readiness outside the publio-house, to follow and watch the * beer jug ’ and the bearer on receiving a certain signal from me, and the other, hidden close at hand, to follow me when I made a dash at the factory, the attack being planned for a certain hour in the afternoon. A FORCIBLE ENTRANCE. Just after the clock had Btruck, the ordinary jug-bearer emerged, and wended his way in the direction of the public house. I waited until he was on the point of entering, and then, waving my handkerchief as a signal to my assistant, I rushed across the stieet from my place of concealment, and,

followed by my assistant, entered tho passage leading to th 6 factory, which was a small room on the ground floor, opening out of a sort of scullery or waßh-house. To my astonishment, I found this door securely locked or bolted on the inside, so that it could scarcely be shaken, much less pushed open. No, time, however, was to bo lost, as part of the garrison—the cup-bearer or purveyor of liquor—being outside the fortress and becoming aware of our tactics, might convey a hint to some confederate to effect a rescue of the compromising tools and materials from the garden window. I, therefore, converted my shoulders into a battering ram, aud charging with all my force against the door, split it right in two, the impetus of my onslaught carrying me right against the renowned Kelly—for such was this notorious coiner’s name—who was standing aghast, with his sleeves turned up, and. his shirt collar thrown open, and hiß bosom bared in front of a roaring fire. STAGGERING THE COINER. For an instant he was staggered—in fact the collision sent him sprawling on the floor —but instantly recovering himself he sprang to his feet, and seizing a large knife which was at hand, he tried to plunge it into my body. I anticipated his move, however, and was in time -to seize his arm by the wrist, and thus frustrate his murderous intentions. Hiß eyes staring and his teeth gnashing like a raving lion, he then, with his left hand, tried to get at a large ladle of fused metal, which was on the fire, presumably with the intention of pouring it over me. By this time my assistant was at my side, and, throwing him again to the ground and taking the knife from him, we managed to curb and control any further attempts at violence by handcuffing his hands behind his back, and so rendered him helpless in spite of his rage and fury. Tho defences being thus summarily overcome, we had time to take a survey of the room, which, though no doubt admirably adapted for a coiner’s workshop, was mean and dirty in the extreme, and what with the heat and smells arising from the acids and other necessary ingredients in the manufacture, the atmosphere was sickening.

Under the back and only window was a rudely made box, containing broken-up pewter pots and the other materials and mixtures necessary in the trade. In the centre stood an old table upon which were three moulds adapted for making nine coins each at a time. These were all filled full and ready to be emptied when cool enough. There were also two batteries filled with the necessary liquid, aud inside were the rests made of copper wire upon which the various coin 3 were placed at different stages of their mahufacturo. There was also about a pint of melted metal on the fire, as well as vitriol, and other curious preparations which, no doubt, it would have afforded him supreme delight to have thrown in our faces, had his hands been free from the manacles. We now packed the various articles into the box, and pocketed tho finished coins we found, as well as those in the moulds with the * getts ’ attached to them. We conveyed him and them to the police station, where he was charged and detained till the following morning, when the whole case was fully gone into, and the evidence-beiDg so clear, he was, without any further remand, committed for trial at the Old Bailey. I must add that the beer-carrier, against whom we had no legal evidence of complicity in the manufacture, and no proof but that he was drinking on his own account, hastily decamped, jug and all, when upon his return, he saw the true state of affairs. CLINKY AND HIS WIFE. While Kelly was awaiting his trial in Newgate he was visited by his wife, who was as expert in the business as he was, and it was clearly to my interest to follow her and take note of her associates. This done for a few days, aha was found to consort with a man known by the sobriquet of ‘ Clinky ’ and his wife, who for years had been carrying on the manufacture of base coin. They were, however, more like bloodhounds than ordinary beings, and seemed to be able to smell a deteotive, even if a quarter of a mile distant. It was, therefore, utterly impossible for me, whose commission by the authorities was pretty well noised abroad since the arrest I had effected, to follow them and get their address. However, I loafed about patiently aiid late at night in the neighbourhood of Westminster, and was, after a few days, gratified to see my gentleman and his lady come rolling along in a fine state of intoxication, and enter a house in Smith-street. My next point was to find out the room they occupied, and as a friend and a policeman lived opposite, I had little difficulty in ascertaining that it was the top front garret. Unfortunately, their window was at a higher elevation than the roof of my friend’s house, so no observations could be conducted from that quarter. The great thing was to know when they were at work, and, in a day or two, I ascertained that they were engaged to fill a certain large order—also from the provinces upon a certain day by six o’clock in the afternoon. My Dext move was to present myself to their notice on tho morning of the day in question, but the difficulty arose as to how I was to gain admission without any warning being conveyed to the coiners, as the landlady was undoubtedly aware of what was going on, and, as we say, very * fly.“‘REGISTERED LETTER TO SIGN FOR.’ Two minutes’ warning would be quite sufficient in this trade to get all compromising paraphernalia out of harm's way. I therefore secreted my two assistants inside a door on the opposite side of the Btreet, and walking up to the house gave a postman’s knock. A voice from below called out, ‘ What do you want ?’ ‘Registered letter to sign for,’ I replied. The door was slowly opened, and in I rushed, pushing the astonished landlady on one side until my companions from across the street had also got inside. Up-stairs, pell-mell, we all three hurried, and, finding the door, as a matter of course, fastened inside, charged it, and confronted * Clinky ’ with a ladle full of liquid metal. He was filling seven moulds, placed on the table, eaoh containing seven to eight comEartments for the manufacture of coins. lefore he was able to turn himself he was knocked over in the corner of the room, and his wife, who vainly tried to dash the vitriol contained in five batteries in our faces, was secured before she could accomplish her fell I intent. The premises were searohed, and

numberless coins, from half-crowns to shillings, wore found, and actually pronounced by Mr Arnold, the magistrate at Westminster, himself a numismatist, to be inoapable of detection except by test with proper instruments. The two men and the woman were eventually tried, the latter being acquitted, and tho former convicted aud sentenced to seven years’ penal servitude. I was now allowed, after being promised a reward which I never received, to return to my ordinary and more congenial avocation of thief and burglar hunting. (To be continued.)