SECRET POLICE

Waikato Times, Volume 120, Issue 19942, 20 July 1936, Page 12

SECRET POLICE

THE QLEER MARY’S FORCE. ‘ CROOKS THEY CANNOT ARR-BT--531’? (From a Correspondent). LONDON, June 20. From the Queen Mary, ship of a thousand mysteries, yet another I closely guarded secret has leaked forth l to the world. That secret is her secret : police—some half—dozen clever detec- l tivcs, headed by ex-Inspector Cory, the man with the most exasperating l job in the world. I How musliei'ating. it is only the l 1 Yard's expert man—hunter, famous for i his work in the Blackheath crime in- i vestigation, can tell. 1 Hands Tied. | For in policing this new Empress of ‘ the seas his hands are tied before he starts. He must outwit the crooks i he daren’t arrest. Only a liner de-i tective can appreciate what ex-Inspec-tor Cory, and his colleagues are up against. Employed to protect the passengers, there are times when they must helplessly watch their charges being led like lambs to the slaughter of astute card-sharpers and confidence men, yet they are powerless to clap the handcuffs on the Wrists of the wrong—doers. For, in law, the only charge that can be made against these crooks is inisdenieanoui',/giving the detectives no grounds for arrest unless a definite complaint is laid. The complaint may never come, though, as a silent watcher, the officer sees some prominent financier being swindled of huge sums over the card table. Strolling into the lounge the detective may see the “con men" practising their arts on some Croesus of the canning industry. He knows the fairy story they are telling their victim—the story of the stock market gamble that can't fail to make him a fabulous sum. The crooks, however, do not get everything their own way. Swiftly the radio crackles with messages to London, or New York, to make sure that a suitable reception is prepared for the crooks as they step down the gangway. If anything is known against them they are immediately taken into custody. If nothing is known they are warned to move out of the country. A Happy Huntzng Ground. Jewel thieves, safebreakers and pickpockets also consider the liner a happy huntingpround, and it is the duty of the detectives to round them up. Here kidg‘love methods do not apply, and they can be arrested on the spot if “caught with the goods." Slyest of all the liner crooks are the pickpockets. They have a kind of seventh sense which warns them not to operate when a detective is in the vicinity. However, their very cun—ning has often proved their downfall.