A VAST FORTUNE.

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 15895, 21 January 1924, Page 6

A VAST FORTUNE.

WOMAN'B PLAUSIBLE STORY. FRENCH MYSTERY EXPLAINED. J i For nearly a year past French detectives sent on special missions to America, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Tunisia, and England, have been looking for traces of the mysterious yacht, "An Old Chap," and for the friends and relatives of its late owner, Miss Fair Heller, of Boston, who was reputed to have left a fortune of 30,000,000 dollars to Madame Leotardi, of Paris. The search arose out of the statements made by Madame Leotardi that she was to receive this huge fortune immediately on the completion of certain formalities in America, and her story appeared the more credible as she was able to produce a large collection of documents, including Miss Fair Heller's will, statements relating to her vast possessions in all parts of the world, and letters said to have been received from Miss Heller, her cousin, Wilbur Heller, who was appointed her executor, and many wealthy Americans, among whom were Messrs Vanderbilt, Henry Ford, and Pierpont Morgan. In consideration of these documents and her great expectations, Madame Leotardi received substantial loans from certain French bankers, but soon one of them grew suspicious, and accused Madame Leotardi of having duped him with a piece of pure fiction. But the investigation showed that Miss Heller's will had been deposited in the office of a Marseilles -lawyer by someone purporting to be Miss Heller herself. Madame Leotardi paid off her distrustful creditor and went on waiting for her millions, i It was a romantic -story she had to tell of how, during a holiday on the Riviera, she met the wealthy Miss Heller, and a- strong friendship grew up between them on .account of their great love for dumb animals. For many months Madame Leotardi sailed with her wealthy friend as her guest on her yacht, but early last year she received news that Miss Heller had died on her yacht while cruising in the Mediterranean. In the letter which informed her of this sad event, Mr Wilbur Heller, cousin and executor of the millionairess, enclosed a copy of the will, under which Madame Leotardi was made sole beneficiary on condition that she would take care of her lamented friend's collection of animals, scattered in places so far afield as Japan and Ceylon. But as time went on, and no fortune materialised, the other creditors of Madame Leotardi grew so curious that the police took up the inquiry. Following the indications given in Madame Leotardi's collection of letters, they searched high and low for traces of the mysterious yacht and its equally mysterious owner, but no record i existed of such a vessel having ever entered any Mediterranean ports or having ever been seen in America. Wilbur Heller proved equally elusive. The yacht, the 'millions, and millionairess had vanished without leaving any other trace than the documents produced by Madame Leotardi. Handwriting experts who examined these came to the conclusion eventually that they were the work of Madame Leotardi herself, and that all the personages in her romance of fortune and adventure were creatures of her own brain. After eleven months of investigation the authorities became inclined to accept this view, and Madame Leotardi was confined in Saint Lazare prison on a charge of obtaining money by false pretences.