The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-02-05
, WE HAD GLASS OF ALE AND PIPE To-
nFTuFR

GETHER.
and it had been pretty well established
that he bought goods without asking.
any questions. In watching him | as
sumed another identity and became
customer. We came to be on quite
friendly terms, and fattered myself
that he had not the slightest suspicion
of the part l was playing At one
time and another ! was the means of
enabling a number of householders to
recover stolen goods Saunders had
bought, but the man always evaded the
law. / got to know that he lived in
Jane street. only few blocks away,
where he had a wife and one child.
One of our men occupied room In the
same house, and in a casual way he
had learned that Saunders was home
only two nights per week. He came
and went as did my neighbor Hadan.
A year after l began watching the
bric-a-brac shop there were complaints
made about certain merchant tailor
named Dawson. He was making suits
to order so cheap that other tailors de-
clared the goods must be stolen. AS
matter of fact several bolts of cloth
stolen from tailor in town so miles
away were found in his shop but he
proved himself clear of the law by
narrow margin. I became a customer
and an acquaintance. | brought Gus
toners to him, as l had to Saunders.
There were many times when we had
glass of ale and pipe together, and
from the very outset l used my best
efforts to get on to his little game
He continued to make suits to order
far cheaper than his rivals, but though
his shop was searched again and again
no more suspicious goods were found
Dawson was full of talk and seemed
to be without suspicion. but | got no
information from him to help my case.
early aacertained that he lived in
Montgomery place and had wife and
two children. By the merest accident
/ further learned that Mr. Dawson was
home only three nights per week, and
/ am honest enough to confess that
did not connect the circumstance with
the domestic life of Hadan or Saun-
uCIS. L AC lCdSOA Ol0h was ONNouSCA
had not yet suspected Hadan of any
thing and because / had no case
against the other two.
As to Hadan, living In the same
house with me. he cultivated my &C.
quaintance. He told me of his bust
ness, invited me to lunch with hin, and
was as frank and open as any man !
ever met. On half a dozen occasions
he invited me to drop into his work
rooms in case 1 found myself near
them, and admit took quite liking
to him. His wife was more reserved
and less to be seen, but yet the four of
US went to the theater occasionally In
company, and she was agreeable if not
laxative. Hadan was a fair sized
man, who always shaved smooth. His
reddish hair was scant, one of his front
teeth broken, and he limped a little,
from an old accident. Any policeman
could have picked him out Of crowd
on a description. Saunders was a
larger man, with hair turning gray,
perfect teeth and side whiskers. Davi-
son was smaller man than the other
two, with black hair, black mus
tache and a prominent wart on his
cheek. Hadan had the voice of a
woman; Saunders spoke slowly and
with a growl; Dawson had what might
be termed fair voice.
Now, then, for six years knew these
three men, and two of them were IN
der espionage. l talked with them, ate
with them, drank with them and never
imbibed the faintest idea that l was
the biggest fool in the world. One day
a man who was in a machine shop not
far from detective headquarters was
killed by accident. happened to be
almost the first one ON hand. / recog-
nized him at once as the tailor, and the
body was taken home. While doing
his work the undertaken found that the
black hair and mustache and wart
were all false. This was revelation
even to the wife. The affair was pub
lished in the papers and In less than
two days 1t was found that Hadan,
Saunders and Dawson were one and
the same man. He had padded his body
to increase his size and apparent
weight, and a false tooth, whiskers,
and wart had done the rest
You will say / ought to have detected |
the cheat by the voice. In an ordinary |
case, yes, but this man had made a
study of Disgusting his voice and was
doubtless a natural mimic to begin
with. | never caught a tone to make
me suspect
You will say that good detective
ought to penetrate such shallow dis
guises as false whiskers. In answer
to that let me say that whiskers or
mustache can be made to look so genu-
Inc that no living man can detect the
cheat. The wart was new dodge and
one l~EssA pat-uD- to. 1T. Bas. 50 well