The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1873-08-19
STORIES BY A DETECTIVE.
A Whited Sepulchre.

by one oil the pIlnClphlS vi his nOuse, UO
consult with me concerning systematic
robbery which had been going on for some
time in the concern, and to engage my
assistance. will call this clerk Phillips,
the name of the principalshall be Redding.
The two other principals were absent, one
in the South, the other in Europe. Mr..
Phillips told me fully how for a long time
different goods had been constantly disap-
pearing, that lately the robberies had been
largely increasing, and that now great
quantities of the most valuable goods were
missing. He calculated the loss that had
been experienced, within the space of the
last few months only, at eighteen hundred
dollars, and it consisted in silks, satins,
laces, and goods of that kind. The loss
might possibly have been greater since it
was quite likely that many things taken
had not yet been missed. He told me
what Mr.. Redding and himself had done
to find out the thief, or thieves and what
measures had also been taken to keep a
watch upon the premises. He informed
me also that the opinion of Mr. Redding
about the robberies differed from his own,
and that Mr.. Redding thought that some
of the clerks must be the guilty parties.
1t seemed as If that was certainly very
often the case, since the store was placed
at night under the guardianship of thor
oughly trustworthy watch man, whom he
himself controlled and was convinced in
consequence that he had no dishonest ac-
complices He could not, however, share
in this opinion Of Mr.. Redding because the
clerks had been there long time, most of
them five years, and the remainder, with
the exception Of three who had been there
but few months, had been two, three, and
four years with the firm. He knew all
their circumstances and from this knowl-
edge he was loath to believe they were the
thieves. Mr.. Redding, however, adhered
to his view that some of the clerks must be
the thieves and he wanted the question
settled and cleared up.
ask Mr.. Phillips how many clerks there
were in the establishment, and he said
that, not including himself, there were
thirty-seven.
Thirty-seven l asked :" And do
you mean to say that there is not one of
these thirty-seven whom you consider to
be more or less innocent or guilty than any
of the rest"
"I do"
"Now we have considerable task before
us which will not only take time and prove
our patience, but also cost your house a
considerable sum of money. We might
perhaps, stumble upon the thief at once,
but if we can prove nothing against him,
we must convince ourselves that all the
rest are innocent, and that may cost you
more than the robberies even, till accident
perchance in time leads to the discovery of
the thief.
~ have discussed this point with Mr..
Redding too, )" replied Mr.. Phillips, " but
he insists that we must find out the thief,
cost what it may, and once for all put an
end to the plunder for the house cannot
long stand against such constant and con-
tinuous losses. He has made up his mind
to probe the thing to the bottom, and when
he once takes resolve into his head, he
does not readily give it up again."
In reply to inquiries l drew from Mr..
Phillips that, although many of the goods
were of particular kind, it would not be
easy to identify them if the private mark
of the house were removed "And any
thief" he continued, "who steals goods in
bulk will be prudent enough to leave
nothing on them by which they can be
identified, and himself convicted. He
would be sure to destroy our marks"
We now agreed that on the next day /
was to make visit to the store, as mer-
chant from Buffalo, desirous of making
some purchases, SO that might take a
look at the place and the several clerks.
After Mr. Phillips had left l thought the
matter over well, but could not see the
solution to the puzzle. My colleague,
however, to whom / spoke about the bus
iness--for in an affair of this kind 1t is nee
essary to have more than one concerned
thought that some Of the clerks must be
the thieves and that it would be necessary
to set watch for couple of nights in
order to find out the right people. But
it seemed to me that the discovery of the
thief in this case would be by no means
such an easy matter
On another day visited Mr.. Redding,
had arranged with Mr.. Phillips that in
the presence of the other clerks he should
not know me, at any rate not until Mr..