FRENCH DETECTIVES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1233, 18 November 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

FRENCH DETECTIVES.

. artists''ih ; 'tsbib PBomaroH-AiriNoi-' ; _, DBNT SHOWING, HOW NBATLIf' AHD HOW, BMHOiiraf THk)r DO THBIB WORK ~ j■' Some five or lix'yetrs ago, being on a Visit to Paris, I went to mo*: friend, a Frenoh' gentleman I \ had- known for many yeari, ; . ( -who,, with his, wife and only' daughter, lived. ''''in.asmallh'ouje.inthe Faubourg St, Qer-' .; main, 1 1; found the f&«iily,• one and ; all,, in 1 the greatest possible excitement,.' : During the night their, domioile had been broken ■. into, and : property to the value of about 33,000 francs (£1200)-oonsisting,of plate,', jewels, money, and bonds—had been stolen.' v My friend was by no mm a rioh man, and the loss was to' him ; a ; yery'serious one. The' stringe'part'ofithe'aiSfairwas ! that'no one , Beemej; to,have the.slightest idea'by : wh'om' ' 6r. how iKo lost.tniiigA' biad been taken, They wero kept'in" a large iron-clamped'chest,' >-which was never moved out of" the wife a manger, and i which : was found in lis ,usual place next morning, but with the lock forcod open. The servants of the family '• were dnfyitwo >ih number, and consisted of an olderly man and hiewife/who had been in the aame service 1 for' more than' ten years', v They did not sleep on the same floor as their master and'miistreea, but, m is .usual in .. Paris, ocoupiod a.rooni some stories higlier in the mansard or attic. They had a key by ■ ;whjoh. toilet themselves in from the baok stairs to'the kitchen in the morning;. but at ' the time'of the robbery neither one nor the other had beon in ' the • dining-foonr where the cheat w«i kept until after my friend's daughter had found out what had happoned; ' The lady of the family'hatt'looke'd' the chest ' . —it washerusuaihapit-before she had rotired to'r'est tho previous night, .The key , Was found hanging on a nail .at the. head of her bed, its usual place, The theft must ' "have been committed between eleven p,m,| ■; when the chest was looked, and eight a.m.j ■ ' -When-her daughter discovered tho loss. The concierge declared that no-ono Have those ' tfho'lived in thd house had passed hip lodge ' . during those hours. The'dobr'bf the'apartment opening on to the main staircase was found locked, and the key on the inside; Altogether it was a most mysterious business; of which no one pould mako anything' save , that ftp'proporty had vahiahed; therefore; ' it must have peen takijn by some one, ' • ; ' •My friend resolved to go at once to the ■ Ruede Jerusaleta-tbfe Scotland Yard of Paris—and asked the authorities'to'make enquiries into the matter; • I suggested an ' agent de police or policeman from the nearest station might be called,' but was told that thatwas not the way they.did things' in Paris. The. policemen that keep order v in the streets, and those whose business it is to discover what has become of stolen pro■perty, :aretwo departments perfectly, disi tinot from eaoh other. Being anxiouß to " see how ohr neighbors managed things of this kind, and whether, they were better up to their, work than our London detectives, I ao; oompaaied mj friend to the Prefecture de Moe, whete he sent in his card, and we Wore at once. ushered into the presence of a quiet-looking olderly gentleman, one of tho r sous-chefs: of the department, who looked more like, a bank manager or head olerk in' a largo mercantile house, than a man whose occupation was to indicate where the "thieves and othere who were 'wanted'" 'could be laid'hands on. •" ; ' ■ATronohman is nothing if he is not polite. The individual into whose sanctum we were shown welcomed' us with a civility which nothing could exceed. He heard my' friend's Btory'from first to last, mado a few notes withapon in a kind of diarywhich ho had on his desk, and now and then asked' a question or two respecting the house and,apartinept which had been robbed, the servants, . visitors ,and other matters.: But he did not detain us long, The interview was over in ' twenty minutes.. The sous chef then told my tfriend that ho would send ,ono of hissuboN dinates to see the cheat the next day. In tho meantime would .my friend prepare 1 ii list and as' minute adcjoriplionaS possible of the'property that had been 1 stolen ? As a rule Frenchman, no matter tb'what rank of life they belong,.'have the greatest 'possible respect for all who' are in 'any' way connected ■ with the police'and never dream of disputing what-they say; but my friend was somewhat annoyed, at what he deemed useless delay, and asked' whether the police agent could not be Bent at pnee, The souß-cuef,:howerer, ' overruled his bbjectlon,"and' said it was best, for many leasdns, tho agent should'not.go to tho house till next day, "In the first place," he said," Ido notwish anyone but ourselves to know that the gentleman who will; call on you to-morrow is any' way connected with the police. Ho will send up a card and you will be kind enough" to receive him as a friend—talk to him of the robbery in the .presence of your servants as you would.to any casual acquaintance,' 1 He then turned tome and said laughingly:' "We do not manage these affairs as you do in London. We don't ■affiche our police j we don't send constables' (he' pronounced the word ' odncstabel') -to ■make afuss to put everyone on their guard; we like to do things i quietly) tho result is ■ better," • He then'bowed us out and we took .our- departure, not over: assured as to what ,the upshot of the affair would be. ■ ■■.-' ■•• "Un monsieur qui desire vous voir," aaid imy friend's man-servant next day, putting a • eard into his master's hand,; just as we were finishing our midday meal, and a gentleman.like middle-aged-man was shown in, He •wwelose shaved-as to the chin and upper i'vp, but wore small whiskers, more like an iEnjlishman •of business of ten years ago than a native of la belle France, He was well buJ not fashionably dressed, and carridd a' smaJl- oane, with which he kept gently gapping his i>oot when not speaking, while iihe servant wM >n the room he confined his •iflbnversation to -generalities, ; and gave his -"lopitiidni! freely on- the political subjects of the day. When my friend spoke of the robi 'beryand' pointed to the chest out of which i the'.property had been taken, he merely Ik 'glanced at it, looked at the lock for a mo- & ;<ment, and turned the conversation, . fle asked- madame to call her ■ maid and her on some indifferent subject, - This done, and I watchedihij face during the me the woman was presents but he merely HHooked at her once, and continued talking to Hfi;.The only point on whioh he seemed really Wf -anxious was to obtain a fuller description of 'the articles lost than, he had been already ifurnished with, i' v •■ - -' '. ,My friend offered to give him details then Und there, but he 'declined to wait for it, on that'by'p'rolonging':his visitrhe unight arouse suspicion amongst the servants, ;We suggested meeting himnear the Rue do J<tutalem; but he laughed at. the idea, saying that if be were once seen near: the police office his occuMon..would be gone, as he would be no longer of any real use as an .jagent of the police,. So an.appointment.waa .made to meet at the,Cafejdu fielder on the •Botflevards, where ai moredetftihjd'descrip- ' ton ,bf theloßt iproperty should ••be' giwo to Ihim, ; He then took hia leavej'but' asked w ; < ■to accompany himdowh'stairs, so as to in)-: ' -press the concierge with the idea that he was . 'iuVacquaintince" of some'standing, Before, 'arriving at • the .'bottom,' : I found' my friend "had'manage'd to'aiftyhis'cbaji'in a; manner . WUc'h'necesaitakdw turninginto the'e'oii-

merge a -Jodge :.to-;:borrow-'ia' olotheß-brush,: 'thereby gaining'an opportunityof casting an eye round the small room and on its oocupieV' To me,tbefrfg'initiated/ the objoob was pal"! • pable, though 'quite unsuspected by the. in.! dividual in question, .When the brushing ' was over we.walked out together, and in the course of conversation we touched upon the way in which some persons can so disguise? tkomselves'as 'toi hide''their' individuality from their most intimate friends, i. ■i- > ■'! v

■ ■ myself as 'being 'doubtful whetherthis could be really dono, provided: the parties to be deceived were on :the : l6ok. odt for sttoh cl'ede'ptibh, - ; 'My companion dif-: ferodffrom nio,iand to disguise 'him-' self soetfootually that he wouldin the oourle |'Of the ri6xt-twenty-four hour's speak to me: foratileast ten minute's without arousing my suspidons;' I - accepted the! challenge, mid' staked the price of a dejeuner ai'anycafo he wouldlike to name; :He agreed,'and tie very same daywonthe bet in the following manner: -. •■ '• ; i. : Shortly after leaving the detective I met an old'friend, who asked me : to dine with 1 him at Versailles that evening, I agreed tlo' do so, but could not 1 leave Paris as early as I intended to do/and therefore 1 told him T should go down by the.5,30 train from tho' Qare St. La'zare!'' I 'did ; s6,' and as I got into a'first-class carriago I remarked a short gentlemanly.looking man, with white hair, who followed m'e into the samo compartment. Frenchman'-like,; ,ho began,to talk 'about things in general, and we chatted,'more or' Ma, nearly all the way to Versailles. • When' within ten minutes of so of our destination my friend quietly took;pff. his hat, pulled off. aj-wig, .got'.ridof a'moustache, and to my'' litter amazement sat revealed before mo as' my friend the detective! How' he managed to find out that I.was going : to Versailles—wlliohl had no ; idea.'of. myself .when I left him-or how ho'had so effectually, concealed his appearance that I, sitting within tlireo feet of him, had no idea he was tho man -I had loft Some four hours previously, are problems which I cannot solve, The detective himself only laughed when I asked him how he had-contrived it,' He was evidently greatly flatterM'at the amazement I displayed; bnt beyond showingme with some pride his ,wig and moustache/he was very reticent, 'add would enter into,no details. That he had fairly won the breakfast there could be no doubt,'but he said he would rather put off the event until he.eould seo'his way a? to whether or not he should be able to' recover a part or. the whole of the property which my friend had lost. We then parted,' lie taking the train back to Paris, I going onto the house where I was engaged to dine. 'Thiswas on the Thursday evening. On the Monday, about 11' a, in,, the waiter of the hotel where I was staying told me that a gentleman wishedto speak to me. He was shown up, and'this time the "detective was not disguised. He told me that for roasons which I would learn later ho thought it better to como to mo than to go to my friend's house iu tho Faubourg St. Germain, He said he had good news; for that he believed .the greater part of tho stolen property had been recovered,' and asked me to go to tho prefecture 'de police on'the following day, about -1 p.m., and to take my friend with me;' We did so, ! and found that what the detective had told me was true. Among other valuables that had been stolen was a Canvas bag containing between two ' and three hundred napoleons. These had disappeared; but tho jewollory, the plato, and what was ' still more ■ surprising, tho bonds, payable, as all such documents arein Franco auportw(to the bearer), had been found, and were ready for my friend l to identify. This was easily done, but nothing was allowed to be touchdd for the present, as it would have to' be swbrnto at the, trial which would shortly take place. When my friend returned home he found that while he was at the prefecture the concierge had, been arrested for conniving at,the theft, and in the lodge were found, in a hidden- cupboard,; the bag containing the money; in a word, without fuss, publicity,' or loss of' timo, the whole, of the'property which had been stolen the week before was in the hands of the police,' In ten days moire the trialjwas.oyer. , and two of his relations wore each condemned ,to five years of travaux force's (penal servitude), my friend got back the whole'of his property, and, what to me, .asan,Englishman, 'seemed moro extraordinary,'the total expense of the proceedings' came something, like 100 .francs (£4)„ Even this payment' was nearly ail voluntary ; for my friend insisted; upon making a small present to the detective who had done his work so well. • ■ ..,., To give any details as to how thevaluables were found, or how, the robbery was traced to the concierge, is not in my power. The French police are invariably very reticent, particularly in cases-.like,the one I havo attempted to describe. Thoy have, a theory that publicity on such occasions, is a very great:mistake, andihinders justice. I called,-with' my friend, upon the l sous-ohef to thank him for the _ trouble he had taken, •He'was'a very intelligent person, and-evi-dently a man'of education/ He' had been in England on business connected with his office, and spoke very freely aboiib oiir police and'their'way of doing business. He considered that such of thoforoo as were employed in maintaining public order as among the very.best in Europe,- But of our detective system he had a very low opinion. As he 'said- very.truly, ho sooner is a robbery committed in England than theutmost publicity, is given to the whole'affair, and the thieves are as'well aware of what steps are being taken to unravel the matter as the police themselves, It is true that a certain number of our police wear plain clothes instead of uniform, ;but it is certain that these are as well known to the criminal classes of London as their brethren, who wear bluo tunics and helmets. ' .; ; ... ■■'...., ■

In.Paria the detective who is. ongaged in tracing crime is, so to ispeak; hidden from public view; -He rarely goes even to the prefedturd'de■ police; he has his order given him either by a confidential'agent or bya letter written 'in' cypher, He'"mixes in society and meets all sorts' and conditions, of men, but' hia occupationis known; to 1 very few persons indeed;'Somhbh;is this':tbe case that the Frenchdetectives .very seldom know each other;' that is to say Monsieur A; may be very well acquainted with Monsieur 8,, but neither of then) know that the • other jaiemployed by the police, I was told by one of the authorities in tho Rue de; Jerusalem that in London ,the undiscovered robberies are to : those.that are.discovered in the proportion of threeito one. .If .the French police-are : right' in their statements, the largep the robbery that takes .place in "Paris the greater ohanps there is of its being found out, whereas in,liondonwj know the'exaot contrary to'be thecase, '"''"