Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-02-06
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stipulated month expired. linus two
crimes transpired within the time al
lowed me, and with both of these my
name has been connected in the mind of
the detective, Mr.. Barnes. Now, that
You all may better understand the cir
cumstances must 60 to what might
call the beginning. Years ago certain
circumstances in my earlier life gave
me an intimate. acquaintance with the
methods used by detectives, and then
acquired the idea which led me into
this undertaking-that where the Grim
inal has succeeded in escaping actual
watching during the commission of his
crime, SO that there is no witness to the
act, the detective is almost powerless
until he learns the object for which the
crime was undertaken. Am not right,
Mr. Barnes?''
"To know the object of a crime, of
course, is great assistance, but much
would depend upon the attendant cir
cumstances."
'True. The object then is important.
From this point I reached the conclu-
sion that if a man approached another,
totally unknown to him, at night in
lonely neighborhood, struck him on the
head, killing him, and then, unseen,
reached his own home, it would rest en-
tirely with himself whether or not he
would ever be caught. I wanted q
chance to try this experiment-that is,
to commit crime solely to test the
ability of the detectives to discover me
afterward. The difficulty was that
gentleman of honor would scarcely wish
to engage in such reprehensible piece
Of business For years, therefore, could
think Of no way to have my wish, till
the merest chance threw the opportuni-
ty within my grasp. Waiter, fill up the
glasses"
He paused moment while this was
being done. The men went around with
champagne, and when Mr.. Thauret was
reached he asked to have his burgundy
glass filled also. Mr.. Mitchell was again
speaking when the waiter returned with
| the red wine and did as requested. Mr..
Barnes also presented his glass for the
same liquor, saying in an undertone to
Mr.. Thauret, 81 cannot take too much
champagne"
L
Mitchell, "as you all know, is the COL
lection Of jewels. A few years ago I
heard that a magnificent set was offered
for SALE A rich East Indian nobleman,
SO the sti,ry goes, had procured the gems
as a present TO his wife. They were of
the choicest quality and of each exactly
two, matched precisely in size, cutting
and celebration. In time he had two
daughters, twins, the mother dying at
their birth. Eventually these girls grew
up and were married, the ceremony be-
ing double wedding. The father took
the set of jewels and divided them, Civ
ing to each girl one of each. This great
ly diminished their value, for the
matching of gems adds to their price.
| "Reverses Of fortune tempted one of
these women to offer her jewels for
sale. They were taken to Paris deal
er, who CHANGED to be man through
whom had made many purchases. He
undertook not onlyto dispose Of egems,
but to reproduce them with high Or
der Of imitation, SO that the woman re-
tanned the original settings and con-
tinued to wear what her friends sup
posed to be the genuine gems. thought
the unset stones. Subsequently her sis
ter, learning the secret, and seeing that
there was way by which the jewelry
eould be retained, while the Jewels
themselves could be turned into money,
engaged the same dealer to serve her in
a similar way. OF course was doubly
anxious to obtain this second lot, for by
doing so enhanced the value of those
which l had already. therefore bought
them also"
He paused u moment, to allow the
company to recover from the sunrise
at learning that the stolen Jewels were
his.
This lot was sent to me through the
Boston custom house. instructed the
dealer to do this because had found
that goods can be received with less de-
lay in Boston than in New York. Being
rotified by my broker there that they
were ready for delivery, went to Bos-
ton and obtained them. Iplaced the
wallet in q peculiar satchel which had
been made to order for me, and carried
it to my room at the Hotel vendome.
Later in the day met Mr.. Randolph,
and went with him to a theater He
was to return to New York by the mid
night express, and went with him to
the depot. AS we stood awaiting our
turn to purchase tickets you may mag.
inc my utter establishment to see WON.
an pass and board the train having my
satchel in her hand. There could be nc
mistake whatever. because the satchel
was peculiar, both in shape and color.
OF course I saw at once had been rob-
bed. 1t was useless TO go back to my no
tel, for that would be time wasted. II
by any miracle there were two such
satchels, mine was safe in the hotel
therefore astonished Mr.. Randolph by
Offering to accompany him, and ! did
so, occupying the same section with
him.
"While was thinking what action
should pursue, knowing that once the
train started my thief would be safe a
fur as New Haven, Mr.. Randolph began
to praise Mr.. Barnes, and like fash il
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