GIRL DETECTIVE OF SEVENTEEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18322, 12 August 1921, Page 8

GIRL DETECTIVE OF SEVENTEEN.

“PEOPLE NEVER DREAM I CAN BE / AFTER THEM.” HINT FROM A FILM. Writers of detective fiction—high-class or otherwise—have created many types of tho super-thief-catcher; the master brain which tracks the elusive wrong-doer, and brings him, or her, to justice. It is safe to suy, however (writes a Daily Chronicle representative), that not one of them has had the daring to choose a pretty tair-haired girl of 17 as a successful antagonist of the clever criminal. ifet, living and working in London today, is just such a detective; not a mere beginner, cither, but a professional, of many months’ experience, who has already caught more than one rogue, and in cases where male detectives of greater apparent knowledge had failed. This young lady had bettor be known as Miss “Holmes,” after her great prototype. Her appearance is precisely that of any blonde young business girl. When a Daily Chronicle representative saw her, he could only gasp and say : “But you don’t look in the least like a detective!”

“No,” she replied, with a gay laugh, “that’s why I succeed so well, 1 expect. People who have been doing wrong never dream that I can be after them, however bad their consciences may be.” FRIGHTENED. BUT NO ONE KNOWS. Miss “Holmes” confessed that some of her cases are not very pleasant. She even admitted that she is naturally shy ! "As a matter of lact, 1 sometimes feel very frightened,” she added, “but 1 do what 1 have to do, and 1 am sure that nobody knows that 1 am frightened. “The work is very hard, too, but I like it. It frequently happens that 1 have to stand about. in one place ail day, when 1 am watching somebody. 1 dare not even leave my post to got some lunch, for if one goes away just tor a minute, you can be sure that the person you are watching will choose that very minute to slip away. “Most of the cases 1 have been engaged in so far have been thefts. I have not had much to do with divorce, and I don’t want to. I never disguise myself, except to wear old clothes, but I hope that will come later.”

When she left school, not very long ago, Miss “Holmes” took up shorthand and typewriting, but found the life not exciting enough. A constant visitor to the pictures, she saw a film called “The Clutching Hand,” in which a great deal of smart detective work figures, and at once decided that she would become a “sleuth.” She is now employed by Miss Maude West, London’s lady detective. COLLEGE THIEF TRACED.

Recently, Miss “Holmes” has been successful in tracing the author of a series of thefts at a London college. Posing as a student, she attended the college and caught the thief red-handed within a fortnight. She is now leaving for the provinces, where a similar problem awaits hor, and here she will probably have to play another part for a considerable time.

Miss Maude West, the girl detective’s employer, informed the Daily Chronicle representative that, in her experience, girls and women make better detectives than men.

“They have more tact, quicker perceptions, and a more vivid imagination,” sho said. “I get numerous applications every week from boys and young men who fancy they have detective powers. I have tried several of them, but 1 only found one of them a success. He was a smart little fellow from the East-end, but I hod to got rid of him as he was such a shocking thief.”