SMART JEWEL THEFT IN PARIS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2255, 24 March 1921, Page 4

SMART JEWEL THEFT IN PARIS.

CLEVER DETECTIVE WORK,

A clever piece of detective work lias to be recorded in connection with the sensational jewel robbery on New Year’s Eve, when a man smashed the window of a jeweller’s shop in the Rue Tronchet, Paris, with a hammer, stole diamonds and pearls worth half a million francs, and, jumping into a waiting car, drove off, pursued by a Republican Guard in a taxi-cab, who, however, could not overtake him. All that the detectives had to work on was a description of the thief and the motor car, given by the Republican Guard, and their first job was to find the vehicle in one of the innumerable garages in Paris. To visit every garage was a big t;lsk, but the car has been found in an outer quarter of the city, disguised with a new number. The man who had put the car in the garage to be cleaned and oiled had to be found —an easier matter than finding the vehicle, for he had left his address with the owner of the garage. Detectives kept a watch on

him, find discovered that he was amusing himself like a war profiteer in Montmartre. They found a menage a trois —Jourduin, owner of the car, a Montemartre dancer, and another man. Jourduin had prepared for danger. There were revolvers on a table by his bedside and under his pillow, but he had no time to use them. In the room were numbers and letters for changing the number of motor-cars, soft wax for taking impressions, false keys, cocaine, and (5,000 francs. At first Jourduin prevaricated, but finally confessed (hat lie had stolen the car, and had planned the theft in the Rue Tronchet.