CLUE OF THE MILKMAN

NZ Truth, Issue 1193, 11 October 1928, Page 9

CLUE OF THE MILKMAN

Wallace Detectives Had Nothing On Frank Spencer

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch Representative.)

Early to bed and early to rise to supply a goodly portion of Christchurch householders with milk is the lot of Frank Spencer. Perhaps the solitude of those lonely hours, groping around the City m the dawn, when revellers are going home late or earl}) workers are making a start, has developed his powers of observation to a high degree; or perhaps he is a student of crime detection.

AT all events, Frank ia the type for whom Edgar Wallace would give half the profits of his best seller: He featured as the chief link m the chain of evidence which brought Evelyn Calnon, a married woman, of 24 years, and William Downey, a railway shunter, aged 31, to explain a number of matters to Magistrate E. D. Mosley m the Christchurch Police Court last week. ■ Whereas m modern detective fiction the sardine tin, the cigarette butt or the wisp of hair bring the miscreants to justice, It was a milk "billy" which was the prime faotor that caused Evelyn and Downey to appear before the magistrate to answer a joint charge of stealing. five sacks, two blankets, a curtain, four sheets, two towels, a tea-cloth, pillow slips, a copper jug, a milk can, a tin of sugar, five pounds of tea, a shopping basket, a scrubbingbrush, a flour tin, four teacups, a meat dish and two carpenter's bits, the total value of which was £6/17/0. This schedule describes m full the property which Anne Jane Whltchurch alleged Colnan and Downey had purloined from a house they rented from her at 67, Montreal Street. ' . The reoital of the facts disclosed that Downey's domestic affairs are, to say the least, somewhat involved, while he and the woman are disciples of the fade-away cult — an everlasting nightmare to landlords. ; Mrs. Whitohuroh let the house furnished to Downey In August, and, with Colnan, who was alleged to be his wife, he occupied it on the understanding that he was to pay thirty shillings weekly for rent. Three weeks passed by quite satisfactorily so far as the payment of the rent was concerned, but when a call i was made for th» fourth week's dues, ]

! the landlady found that her tenants had flitted. At this point Frank Spencer, vendor of milk, enters the story, but minus the customary Edgar Wallace embellishments. Spencer, to all intents and purposes, is merely a milkman, doing his daily round, but the house to which Downey and the ■woman secretly moved was also on Spencer's round, and the first day he complied with a request to supply No. 17, Stewart Street, he recognized the can which had formerly occupied a place on the doorstep at 67, Montreal Street. Through Lawyer M. J. Burns, j the two accused pleaded the deI fence that one had assisted the other to pack, and nothing had been taken intentionally. ! That some had been taken was proved by the police, who found a good 1 deal of the missing property at the house m Stewart Street. Calnon Informed the court that Downey was a boarder and that there were people named Morgan also living at the place. She claimed that she had given notice m writing of her intention to vacate the place, while the sheets, a blanket and a tin of sugar were identified as presents from her mother. Downey, it was stated by the police, was living away from his wife and was m arrears with his maintenance for his wife and children and also for another child* while the woman, Calnon, was living apart from her husband. The magistrate accepted the inforI mant's story that the property was taken from the house. s ' • ' I Downey was admitted to probation for six months and Calnon was convicted and discharged. • • No order was made for the repayment of £2/10/- worth of missing! goods. • ■ ■■ ; j