MYSTERY SOLVED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20233, 17 February 1934, Page 21 (Supplement)

MYSTERY SOLVED.

nWts From Sydney Bond Store. AN INGENIOUS PLAN. (Special to the “ Star.”) SYDNEY, February 6. On August 18 last, Rowan’s Bonded Store, in the city, was robbed of tobacco and silk worth at least £2OOO. Two men were arrested later, and the police succeeded in recovering most of the loot; but until quite recently they were unable to discover how the burglars had got into the store and how they had succeeded in removing so large a quantity of goods with such ease and rapidity. A few days ago, however, when Rowan’s Bond was having a clean-up, the employees found there a case of peculiar construction, which for various reasons they decided to hand over t*, police. It was a box about sft by 3ft and 4ft high, and it had an arched and pointed top. so that other boxes could not be piled upon it. Inside were two bags of sand, evidently put there to keep the box steady on its base. In one side was a sliding panel, about fifteen inches wide, which had been fastened to a batten by screws, and could be opened from the inside. When the detectives at the CI.B. saw these ingenious preparations they realised the whole nature of the trick, and a few judicious questions in the right quarter did the rest. The conspirators had labelled this box “Machinery—handle with care and keep upright,” and had made arrangements to get it carted to Rowan’s Bond, which, like other bonded stores, often receives goods from firms which do not wish to overcrowd their premises with stock not immediately saleable. Shut Up in Box. One of the thieves, armed with screwdriver and saw and provided with sandwiches and liquor, was shut up in the box and was thus transported to Rowan’s on Saturday morning. At midday the employees left for the week-end,, and the occupant of the box had only to draw the screws, lift the panel, emerge, and open the door for

his friends. Thus was solved the mystery that had puzzled the police so long. They could not imagine how the entry into the building had been effected. For there were no marks of tools or jemmies on windows, bars or doors; there were no duplicate keys if l° c k s » and it was certain that the ordinary keys had not been in the hands of any unauthorised person. It was a very clever trick, and in its original form the plot was even more ingenious and ambitious. For the burglars had planned to get five more empty cases carted to Rowan’s; they had arranged that their confederate, v Vl ? g got out of his hiding-place, should fill these cases with loot; and they intended to send a lorry for all the cases at once on the Monday morning. However, the magnitude of this coup seems rather to have daunted them, and in t..e end they contented themselves with a comparatively limlted amount of booty, so as to be on the safe side. The possible contingency hat the man in the box might not have been able to get out and let them in was provided for bv the burglars who had arranged that if they did not hear from ” their mate during the week-end, they would send a lorry on Monday morning with a “ rush order ” to take the box back again. However, when they got to the bond on Saturday afternoon, and knocked quietly on the door, he gave a preconcerted signal in reply; and after that it was all plain sailing. Detectives Divided. It certainly was an ingenious plan, and the detectives are divided between admiration for the cleverness of the hieves and disgust at their own failure to solve the mystery unaided, however, they do not mean to be caught in this way again, and it is reported that firms receiving consignments of this sort at the week-end are acvised to spray them with ammonia, so as to induce anybody who may happen to be inside to reveal himself without delay.