PRIVATE SLEUTHS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 244, 16 October 1940, Page 3

PRIVATE SLEUTHS

DESPERATE CRIMINALS TRAPPED BY HIDE-AWAKE CITIZENS. ’ You paid out the money lor five cheques totalling £34,000 ” questioned the Chief of Police, to a cashier employed in the Bank of Spain. ‘Could you recognise the man who drew them?” “Yes.” nodded the cashier, “I could.” The police took him to all the chief social haunts: theatres, cabarets, restaurants, hotels, and dance halls. •‘l'm fed up.” said the cashier after a week, “let’s go to a news cinema.” On the screen there flashed the picture of a crowded paddock during a race meeting, and the cashier jerked in his seat. “Look,” he said to the detective with him, “there he is.” He had recognised a man on the screen as rhe person who had cashed the forged cheques at his bank, and the criminal was duly arrested. German Spy. Every member of the public is a potential detective, and powers of observation were never needed more urgently than they are to-day. when enemies of the State remain at large, states a London paper. The first German spy to be sent to Donnington Hall during the last war was caught as a result of the observation of a private citizen. The spy was at Inverness when the war began, but his English was so fluent and his knowledge of the country so perfect, that none suspected him. He was given away by an Irish terrier which he lost during a trip to Nottingham. Being much attached to the dog, he offered a reward for its return. The man who found it had the good sense to examine its collar very carefully, and found the name of a Berlin maker written in small letters in one corner. He told the police of his discovery, and on shadowing the man they realised he was a spy and arrested him. Criminals often give themselves away in the most surprising manner. “Pretty Boy” Floyd, who at one time was America’s No. 1 Killer, made the most elementary bloomer while disguised as a hobo after a prison escape. He visited an Ohio farmer named Robinson, and after supping at his farm, yanked out a fat wad of 1000dollar bills to pay for his food. Although 74 years old, Robinson was no dodderer. He suspected his visitor, recollected having seen his face in the back number of a magazine, and looked it up for confirmation. He then ’phoned the police, who did the rest. Serving in Shop. Sometimes women trip up crooks. A busy housewife out shopping once saw, serving behind the butter counter of a store, a big man with a black beard slightly tinged with red at the roots, denoting the use of dye. On skimming through a paper she noticed his resemblance to Ross Frazier, an escaped criminal sentenced for manslaughter. Next day, wearing gloves, she walked to his counter again, and ordered a pound of butter, taking care to remember just where his fingers touched. The packet was then handed to the police, and the finger prints were verified at Oklahoma State Penitentiary as those of the criminal.