SCOTLAND YARD

Hokitika Guardian, 14 December 1928, Page 8

SCOTLAND YARD

ITS <- Q" SITU S. CARS IN STRA.V-'K MSG F ISKS. LONDON, Oct. 21. At 11 1 c time when the murdereis in the (Time which we Imvo imagined »civ .making i:.p Regent Stieet at 70 mile- an hour, tlu‘ innocent-looking motor-cars and motor-vans which have* been referred to were in Uiapham. Kew, Theatreland, a West Knd park. ;t London dock area, and a North London street. I!lehave not travelled far before receiving Scotland Yard's message, for there is very little delay in these matters. They were still moving about unrecognised • - ipiite indistinguishable from the other ears and vans around them—when the grim message is received in code. Let us look at the car that is in Theatreland. With the murderers flashing through the AAV t lend, that should lie one of the most interesting el them. Wo can examine it as it stands lor a moment at a trallic jam tion. It is an ordinary “family tourer.” It has the usual number plate and liconc'*liolder. Its side-curtains do not happen to hi- in position, and we can peon beneath the hood. Rut all we *ce are a few mail' occupants, a. walking stick, and a folded newspaper. The most searching eye can search for a wireless set and see notuiug e*l it. There is nothing larger than the small door-pocket to hold it. and that, scene' (bit enough. Rut now the traltie policeman's hand has lallen. and we can stare into this convent ionalleoking pleasure ear no longer. It is just a.-, it moves forward with the trallic stream that Scotland A ard sends out its message. The change in th(> “family” car is amazing. It throws off its mask. * * -x- * * * * On i lie wiiid--<Tcen the letters A!.l’, have appeared in letters of lire. Retween them is the illustration of the Crown used by the Alotropodta.il police force, (o attract tile attention of the police ahead. Its driver takes on a grim-set expression. Its passengers absorb every instruction ol the distant control station, From somewhere within it the clamour ef an ambulance- bell rings out incessantly, and motor-ears and pedestrians—everything and everybody--move out of ils wav. Shades of “Q“ shins! It is accelerating in a manner we could not have .thought possible as v,e looked at ir, when it was a tearing ear a minute aim. With Piccadilly Circus cleared for it. it sweeps into Regent Street with gathering speed and follows hot-foot in the wake of the murderers. Fifty miles an hour, sixty, seventy, so veil tv-four, seventy-live, with perhaps a little more to he coaxed out of her. The murderers are in a Blank car. The Rlank cannot do it. limy must ho caught. ft would bo out of place to suggest exact]\ what is happening with all the other cars. Rest assured, however, l.lmt they. too. have thrown off their disguise and are all in the cluise. It is quite a different part of London and quite a different date. A man is standing near the door of a jeweller’s shop. Few people are about. Down the street comes an ordinary enough van. The waiting man watches it as it passes. It is as solid as a crate. No one can see into it and. without a. doubt, no one can see out- of it. Look at any ordinary delivery van and judge for yourself. The van goes round the first corner. The man still waits. He is there when a second van enters the street, a differnt van, of course, looking very little like the other. Rut: it. is the same van. The Flying Squad? Yes, complete with wireless receiving sot and its own little station for replying to the mcs-i sages from Scotland Yard. It does not matter to us whether the man is waiting for an omnibus or a burglary. He lias been seen by eves that would know him if lie were a criminal of importance, lie dee' not know that fact. * * * * * * * A rather shilty-eyed individual slouches along a pavement. He. too. is passed by van. but lie does not pay particular attention to it. ITis face is rather familiar to cor tain people within the van. A minute later another van passes At least, let. us call it another. The eyes look closer. Yes, his lace is undoubtedly familiar. The wireless sending and receivin' 1 sets help the memory in identifying him as a. well-known cat bundar, an “old-timer.” It is soon certain that lie is outside liis “manor,'’ to use an old police term to describe one's owe district. Arid a burglar outside bis home district- is not quite as respectable as a burglar at home. Comparing the Brown of the Fssex Lane with the Brown of bis borne district. where he was teetotaller and non-smoker and exemplary father, it will be understood that a burghi” away from home is of particular interest to the police. It is easy to get instructions from headquarters. Tn this distant side street one is as near to Scotland A aril as if one was working in a Scotland Yard office. Tt is soon known what is to be done about the eat burglar. Crime detection has to remain far ahead of crime as a science, Let the

criminal be wiser than the crime investigator and crime will prosper. AYheii the detective is winning, crime becomes less worth while. And a burglar is ilist, as ready as an accountant- to give up the job when it. ceases to pay. Ci iniinals are over improving their methods. They are drawing on s'ieiue more and more. They are striving to get ahead of the “Yard.’’ AYhat I have seen of the “Hying Squad,” however, suggests that Scotland Yard is well ahead of them, and is likely to increase rather than lose its lead.