The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-06
THAT ACCUSING FINGER
WHY THE WORK OF DETECTIVES IS
EASIER THAN SUPPOSED.
Takes Hardened Criminal to Go
Through the Police "swent Box"
Process without whiting.
Washington star.


20 say, through the ordeal of the third de-
gree" said a veteran postofice inspector.
"Only about one man in hundred, new in
she path OF dishonesty, is able to stand UP
under the close questioning of men whom
he knows 20 be tracking him. The other
ninety-nine go TO pieces when any piece OF
apparent evidence against them, manufac-
or otherwise, Is suddenly flashed upon
them. and fall all over themselves in con-
Tossing.
II worked on two cases involving such
confessions last year. and in one of these
cases the guilty man, although We were
absolutely positive of his guilt. could never
by any possibility have been convicted in
u court OF law had he possessed as much
spine he did ingenuity.
HE was a railway postal clerk with a
long run on the other side of the Missis-
sippi river One day he saw a chance to
make big haul. and, being poker player.
and, consequently. In constant need OF
money, he promptly accepted the chance.
"At city station along his run he was
given two well-stuffed pouches or regis
tered mail. He hastily scrawled re-
ceipt, but the receipt didn't read for two
pouches of registered mail. but for only
one. The railway postal clerk had OBJ
served how carelessly the receivers or these
receipts accept them, generally without any
scrutiny or a merely cursory scrutiny at
best, and so he merely receipted for one
pouch. and, to use the current phrase, ne
got away with II. The man who took the
receipt didn't look at IL, but tucked IL away
with his other papers, and therefore the
railway postal clerk found himself In pos
session or a nice, fat. tightly-packed pouch
of registered mail for which he mad gwen
no receipt whatever, and which he could
do just as he liked with.
He had lot of time before the next
- -t.rT.. a nd 81
he went through the bag that looked the
most promising and rihed its contents at
his leisure. II was almost exclusively
cash pouch There was some jewelry, but
this he tossed away as being too liable TO
get him into trouble. The cleanup that he
made was something handsome-only a few
hundred dollars short of $1,000.
He burned all OF the envelopes and other
papers in the little stove at one end of the
car, aud he tossed the pouch and the
plumber that he didn't elect to hang on TO
Into a river which the train crossed on a
trestle, taking care to attach a weight to
the pouch so that 1t would be sure to sink
He attended to the delivery of the other
pouch all right-the only pouch for which
be was responsible-and at the wind-up or
his out trip he found himself in possession
OF the tidy sum OF nearly $4,000 In cur
rency.
BEGINNING WORK.
81 went out on the case. The man who
had accepted the receipt for the one pouch
remembered perfectly well that he had
really delivered two pouches to the car,
and his statement put 1t up To the railway
clerk. although the latter had a fine edge
on the situation, owing TO the fact that he
had only receipted for the one pouch. L
knew that Ii would be perfectly useless to
ask him whether he had received one or
two pouches. and did not present myself
to him at first at all. Instead, I plowed
around and located the girl with whom he
was ON confidetial terms; l had only been
the girl-she lived In Cheyenne-had given
800 bill to a Cheyenne tradesman In pay
ment OF a small bill. When l found this
out 1 got a United States officer to accom-
pany me. and then found the railway clerk
In his room at a hotel in the town at the
end of his run. When he had admitted US
! went at him at once.
i've got you dead TO rights told
him. and the best thing you can do to
save yourself long. sentence is TO own up
hauling out my wallet and producing a
500 bill. is a 500 note that your girl spent
!. IN cheyenne day before yesterday after
noon. The number of the note has been
Identified by the sender OF 1t. and
It's all off.' he INTERRUPTED me with a
wan and gray face. You've got me all
right. Ill tell you where the money is,
and he did. That same night the money.
all but about 500. was found stuffed behind
the taxpayer lining OF a chicken coop back
Cheyenne. The cave-in of that railway
postal clerk was wholly unnecessary. The
SEQ bill that flashed on him wasn't the
the girl 1t was a bill that had borrowed
& from a bank just for the purpose, But the
bluff went through easily and caught q
Of the crime in a court of law. since there
wasn't the slightest existing evidence that
he had ever come into possession Of the
registered mail pouch which he had rified.
The other quick acknowledgment of
theft. under pressure. was that of the post
master OF good-sized far Western town.
This man had possessed reputation for
sterling integrity. and the case had to be
handled with kid gloves. His method was
ingeniously simple He made up a package
The package contained 5000 I'm bills OF va
rlous denominations The postmaster did
up the package, carefully sealing II In the
presence or two three employees of his
postof1ce. Then he placed 1t in the pouch
and fastened the pouch. leaving the pouch
bound train He prepared the usual letter
OF transmittal, TO be sent by separate mail,
the letter giving a list of the numbers OF
the bills forwarded In the currency pack
age. But the postmaster altered the end
figures OF some of these bill numbers. His
idea IN doing this was a shrewd one, in one
sorts of ways of spiking the schemes OF
these TOO shrewd people. He knew that the
numbers Of the bills as given in his letter
OF transnfttal would be used to trace the
bills. and as he. intended to spend those
bills himself he purposely changed the
numbers that there would be- as he
thought no possibility of tracing the bills
20 him.
CORNERED HIS MAN.
That same night, while there was q
party going on at the postmaster's home
ne slipped down to his office, cut a hole In
the bottom OF the fastened pouch to give
an air Of verisimilitude TO the thing as ii
were. distracted the package OF currency
put the money in his pocket and then re-
turned to the party cool as a cucumber
The pouch started on its way to Washing.
ton without the hole in the bottom beine
noticed for some time.
When the money failed to reach Wash.
inston along with the letter OF transmitta
was the one chosen to go out and inyesti
gate the case. After the very first glauc.
at the letter or transmittal / knew that tbs
postmaster himself was the thief / peerec
around his ONCE for a day OF SO, Just Il
throw him on hts guard. and then / cor.
rallied him IN his ofrice. had a couple VI
solid men with me.
Mr. j. said to the postmaster pro
ducing the letter OF transmittal, which wa,
IN his own handwriting. you wrote thi.
letter OF transmittal. didn't your
Why, certainly did, he replied, still
perfectly cool
Are you perfectly sure that YOU got RI,
numbers or the bills right In each instance