RECOLLECTIONS OF A LONDON DETECTIVE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3730, 7 February 1891, Page 2

RECOLLECTIONS OF A LONDON DETECTIVE.

No a.—Borrowed Bank Notes. L /56olngood4ant of England notes had '' A been lifted at the' very door .of the by a fluke the numbers 6f ; these notes were !,, i 1 known, and they'were stopped accordingly. It was the boldness ana neatness with which the, job was done which attracted so much attention; and made everyone who had: the haiMlHngofblg notes anxious for a list' of the numbe'^s,;and this very notoriety mada the slipptng'6f'these notes agaiiti Ihtti clrcti-" lation v difficult matter. Wheal read tha account of the' affair first' in the papers, and saw at the : bottom the words "The numbers of thenotes are known," Isald.to<:; '. ■> < Davie Macintosh, a Scotch mate of mine, who often worked with me, "These notes will ibe-heard of first in Paris—the noise will bei too great on this side of the water." Davie is the coolest customer I ever knew, and; like aliScotchmen, abominably dUpur . i. tatious. If I had said they would be heard of in the next Street,he would have said "the moon was a likelier place, "just for contrariety. V "Mair likely at the Bank," he said, so fn pity I let him have his own way of it. A day or two after I changed my opinion ' 1 i.' s | about Pajte, for I saw an account of the smart trick in one of the French papers, and ; , ■ the number of the notes given at the foot, so 1 saw that the game was blown there too. This is how the notes were taken. A lady had just drawn the amount at the counter inside, and put the notes in a little reticule,, which she carried out carefully guarded under her cloak. The ordinary thief on thewatch, and meaning to get those notes, would have grabbed at the reticule just as she reached t the open air, and run like the wind with it before she could draw her breath for a scream. This one worked in a betterstyle. He came after the lady without his hat, and and with a pen in his hand, as if ha had just run out from behind the counter, and just as she was stepping into a cab he said deferentially.— f : "Ibeg your pardon', ma'am,'but would you just let us look at those notes again for a. moment till we take the numbers?" The simple woman handed over her reticule bodily, and the hatless man vanished into the Bank with it, and she saw him no more.' She got tired waiting in the cab, and ] at last went Back into the building and asked for her notes. Then the trick was known, and with great difficulty they convinced her that she nad been robbed, and that by some one who had no connection with ;tbe Bank. Her reticule was found lying in a corner, among the feet of the busy throng, but, of course, the clean, crisp notes had disap- * peared, «• There was a good deal of excitement and activity cmong us when the report cape in, and the description of the thief as furnished by the lady was scanned, with many a comment, in the muster-room of the station to which I was attached. '

One peculiarity of the thief was that he had a "gash month," which made his teeth show prominently, and we went over a long list of, known men in the hope of' reraem- - bering one so distinguished, but' Macintosh' only said, ia that cool, stubborn way of his-- • "Dinna bother your head; that g&sb month was put on. When we get a baud o' himhe'U ken fine hoo to keep bis moitth shut." I give the remark as an eaample ofMaelntosh's aggravating mannerand dlspotition. Strangely enough the first note did turn up at the Bank, and as it had been paid in by a firm in our division I was sent for to look into the matter. The firm which had paid in the stopped note was quite as anxious to have the note traced as the Bank people and the real owner, for upon them was to fall the loss of the money. The cashier, I found; had no very distinct recollection of how that note had been paid to him, among so many others, but it was for £SO, and he had only a few of those in his possession when he went to the Bank. He had, however, a faint Idea that the stopped note had come in the ordinary course of business from another firm, also of high standing, the principal of which was a gentleman named William Powder. No one suspected Mr Powder for a moment, for he was a kind, good man, was on ail kinds of Boards and Committees having for their Sim the good of the city and the helping of le poor. However, my work was to trace the note, and I went to the place, and got into conversation with the cashier, who, I learnt, was the only one who paid*away money for the firm, except on rare occasions, when it might be done by Mr Powder himself. When that was done, the payment was generally made by filling up a cneque, so I (bought the cashier far enough for oe to

-'I did not expect >this cashier to be any wiser than the last, and I am qnite certain there was nothing about my appearance or manner suggestive of an officer of police. And yet, before I had spoken ten words to th» yoong man, I noticed something queer abont him. His name was Charles Morru e, and he appeared an specimen ol the average clerk—a little fast in dress, and possibly so in his life also, but otherwise frank and honest-looking. But apart from all that he seemed in dread of some unseen calamity. I read that in his manner and Iris face, while his words betrayed nothing. ▼ was therefore at once upon my guard, for I have seldom been mistaken in the read-

ing of a fltee. "Yon paid an account to Mandrake and Company on Thursday, didn't you ?" I at length carelessly observed, turning over my njpers as if busy looking for the account. T" Yes, and I have the receipt for it," he tMdily answered, turning to a file to produce the paper. • . " Oh, it's all right—you needn't bother showing me that," I said with a smile. " All I want to know is, if you remember whether you paid them, among the monney, a £SO Bank of England note ?" He took some time to think and during that time I watched his face closely. There was nothing like.positive guilt about the expression, but it did strike me that there was something which he was afraid of me reading there, and so kept his eyes on the book before him. My idea was that he was surprised by the question, and wondering whether a truthful answer could possibly affect him injuriously. Whatever bis thoughts and fears really were, his answer was almost a negative. "There might have been a /50 note among the money—perhaps two o? them,"' the slowly answered, as if still busy thinking the matter apch money that day that I couldn't say h9Hb that much, however, he was veryTunbus to know why I asked the question, 'and my business generally. I him off laughingly, and finally refused point-blank to say why I had come and asked the question. I do not believe in showing my hand to the man who is playing against me. e When I got out of the office I took a stroll along the busiest streets in the city thinking Of that cashier and his queer manner. I cu always think best in the crowded streets wfcplenty of noise abont me; and before I feaagoge far I had come to the conclusion that Morrice was innocent of the crime I was trying to trace,, but guilty of something. What was that something ? I did not feel quite shure that I had any right to inquire. It might not be a crime at all, and, even if it were, it might be quite outside of my province. I think I should have let him alone' had I not been strongly suspicious that he had shuffled a little about the £SO note. That annoyed me, and I thought I would turn on him a little just to soothe my feelings. I made some inquiries, and . learned that Morrice was a generous fellow and a great favourite with all his acquaintances. He was inclined to be fast, but not dissipated, and was a great flirt-with the fair sex, whonj be was never tired of treating to trips, balls,' and races. He thus spent a deal of money, and sometimes was victimised shamefully, but, as his family were in comfortable circumstances, he was known not to depend upon his salary alone: for his costly pleasures. Besides, though he gambled and betted a little, he:was known to be very, lucky with all hisventiires; so tfiat, search as I liked, I amid find nothing to connect him with the stopped notes except the suspicion of having paid one of them away. It was absurd to. that he was the thief of those notes, and yet it was possible that he knew something of the criminal. These fast youths, knowingly or in innocence, touch palms with the greatest scoundrels unhung. • . One curious question he had put to me when probing me as to my business, " Was j the note net a &6od one?" h ? e had 'asked with some concern, and when 1 replied, " Oh, yes, as good a note asany ever issued," his concern vanished. Could he know.anything'of the slipping of the forged notes into circulation, or was- his -question only prompted by the fear of losing /50 out .of his salary ? I have found, not among clerks and cashiers only, but ampgg men of wraith; a general reluctance to recall definitely what money they have paid away. They always take refuge in haziness and bad memory -where their pockets are likely to suffer, and Mortice's caution might be.that and nothing, more.

Two other of the stopped, notes were found in circulation while.' I, was making these inquiries, and-again'one of the firms had the idea that one of the notes had been -ft them by Powder. & Co.'s cashier.. I noticed that every evening, and sometimes in the.morning,. wlien he came into the city. Moirrice stopped for a good while at a cigar shop pear Liveropol St«£t» which _ To be Continued,)