The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1903-10-06
Detectives Play an important Part in
Business Of Insurance Companies.
TWO STORIES OF INTEREST
Carefully Planned Suicide by Bank.
rupt, and How the True Story Of
His Death Came to be Known.
Shoemaker Whose Actions Led to
Belief in a Crime.

is now at work between Livingston
and Missoula in an endeavor to ap
prehend the men who have used dy-
Mantle on the line of that road, has
had the effect of calling attention to
the work of men whose duty it is to
ferret out and bring to the bar of JUS
tice criminals. There is a sort of
comradeship among the secret SER
vice men. whether they work for
corporation or belong to private
agency. and when they meet they Of
ten talk over experiences and at the
same time compare notes, and II pos
sible lend each other a helping hand.
not for a monetary consideration. but
just because that is the way of the
profession. During the past week
there have been several detectives in
Helena not connected with the rail-
road service. and not employed in try
ing to run down the dynamiters.
One of these, who was here early IN
the week, and who works for a big
insurance company. exclusively, is
one of the best. according to reports.
in the business. While in Helena
he met some of the railroad detec-
tives, and others. and one evening
some one said they wished they had
the easy time he had.
EASY time?" was the reply. Il
bet | have to do more work In
week than you fellows do in month.
You think you have struck a hard
proposition now. | wish you had 10
run up against some of the people
we have. Some of the most careful
" planned frauds ever Matched by
the brain of desperate men turn up
in the life insurance business. Ihe
cases unearthed in violation or the
suicidal clause alone would surprise
YOU. AS most people know, nearly
all life insurance policies read thaI
no payment shall be made in case
the insured commits suicide within
a wear of the date of the policy.
Some desperate ones try to beat that
nroyision for the sake of relatives
left behind, and then the work or our
detectives comes IN.
mot long ago we had compllcat-
cd case of this kind in Missouri.
One of our old policy holders in that
section doubled the amount OF lnsur-
ance he had been carrying and shot
himself under circumstances intend
cd to point to accident. One or the
oueerest imaginable detective JOBS
led to the solution of the mystery.
From the suspicious fact that the
man died shortly after increasing his
insurance we were led into deeper
investigation to satisfy ourselves
fraud had not been attempted. Upon
examining the dead mans business
affairs we found he had made in
yestments that had gone wrong.
Even his bank account had been de-
Melted to a few hundred dollars. And
there was our case half cleared. The
dead man, who had retired from busl-
ness with a fortune early in life, had
not the means to swing himself to
the top. and with poverty and faml-
Nv of half-grown young daughters
staring him in the face. about all ne
could do to provide for them was TO
insure himself heavily and blow his
head off.
particulars as they were told to
lie seemed straight The dead man
had taken out his revolver to clean
it. He was alone in his dining room
at the time The hour was late at
night, and most of the family had re-
tired The report Of the revolver
brought the family to the scene, and
they found the assured shot through
the head BY his side on table
was a saucer filled with kerosene
several rags, damp with oil and
smudgy with stale powder. and five
cartridges which he had drawn out
of the revolver as a seeming precau
ton. The weapon. with the sixth
cartridge fired, was clasped in the
hand of the dead man. Every Incl
dent. you will notice. was carefully
planned and mapped to make things
appear accidental.
Zone of the first things we found
upon closer investigation was that
mortgage on his estate would have
met him within three days had he
not killed himself.
Under the circumstances, natural
ly. we declined payment until we hat
investigated further. There was NJ
doubt that the family was perfectl!
sincere in thinking the death of thu
husband and father accidental Blu
our detectives frankly stated thei
suspicious. When they asked t.
look through the dead mans papers
so far as they might concern us. tn
permission was readily given. The
came a regular Sherlock Holmes SUI,
prise. It seems in earlier years tn
dead man had literary ambitions an
had written number of shor
stories. The original manuscript
of these were found and among then
the story Of a proud bankrupt an
the father Of family who sacrifice
his own life, precisely as our ma
had done-by being shot academia
~ while cleaning a revolver.
"Only the eldest son of the famil
was taken into the confidence OF tn
detectives and he steered the wome
clear of reefs and SO far as I kno1
none ever learned the truth Of tn
remarkable case which was uneartl
ed by a manuscript written all {
twenty years ago.
I'm some instances our men ri
across cases that look like murde
The Temptation to take human III