The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1911-05-19
The
Shadow
1t Was an Important Matter
In a Mans Life
By Manuel Cosio
By Manuel Cosio
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1871

was sitting In wine shop In Ma.
pies. 1t was dingy place. and no
one was In the place except myself,
though In back room was a woman,
who kept the shop. l was dressed in
rags. Twilight had nearly died away,
and the room in which sat was light
ed only by q lamp In the adjoining
room. But 1t was sufficient to cast q
shadow. My back was toward 1t, and
1 saw on the wall before me the
shadow of a figure advancing with a
raised arm. My blood ran cold, for !
intended to murder me.
This is how 1t came about:
l belong to the Italian national Do
lice. or the carabineers. We are a
very different body from the munich
pal police, assure you. We are Sc
lected from the better classes, and 1t
is quite difficult to enter the corps.
One day / was called to headquar
ters and asked IL would volunteer
for duty In getting evidence in muir,
der case. 1t was not a matter that
could be ordered upon, because 1t was
necessary for me to spy upon the cele-
brated Camorra society, possibly to
cure the evidence | needed. l consent.
ed to undertake the work and was
supplied with what means | needed
temporarily and assured that any draft
of mine would be honored.
My field of operations was Naples
and its vicinity The Neapolitans have
been more tyranni2ed over than any
other body of Italians; consequently
there are more poverty. misery and
crime among them than any other Ital-
ian people. An American lady had been
walking on the sen wall promenade
when dusk was coming on and there
were few people about. She was found
murdered. several valuable finger rings
and what money she had having been
taken. The murderer was probably a
member of the Camorra, and It was
my object to discover and convict him.
The only Information l could get to
aid me was that the American lady
had about 400 lire (Ss0) ON her person
ard description of the finger rings.
There were solitaire diamond and a
sapphire. and one setting included three
stones-a ruby between two emeralds.
Having been enlisted at Milan, l was
not known ut Naples. appeared there
one morning dressed in dirty rags and
began operations on the street as a
professional beggar. 1t was unique
position for one who had behind him
the treasury Of the kingdom of Italy.
pass over a month that ! spent either
in begging or poking trinkets to sell
under the noses of tourists. Mean
while was forming acquaintance
among the worst element of Naples.
One only among the men l met inter-
ested me. He appeared to be of the
better class. He gave me tip for
some petty service ] insisted on doing
him. looked into my face and said to
me:
you are too intelligent looking to
wear such clothes. You should be In
better condition"
"Oh. we poor people have no oppor-
tunlty to better ourselvesr' | replied.
you are right. The rich absorb ev-
erything. The laws protect them in
their iniquities But the poor mamie
must be slave However, there are
ways for bright looking fellow like
you to make money"
The result OF this meeting was that
\ 20 hn nf thfo
Genazzlni to learn how to make mon
ey 1t was by assisting him TO get his
hands on other peoples property.
When | spoke of being detected and
obliged to go to jail he told me that
need not fear that he was In with the
police and would protect me. did
not at the time ask him for further
information as to his means of pro-
lection. for | suspected that | had
found a member Of the Camorra.
thefts. He worked up the cases, so to
speak. and did the pllfering. In ev-
cry case the person robbed received
compensa ton from the chief of police,
stating that II was not their policy to
prosecute the thief In one instance
l contrived to get caught in the act in
order to learn of the protection that
would follow. The man I robbed or
dered my arrest and was very boastful
as to the punishment that would be
melted out to me. but when he con-
fronted me In court failed to identify
me. He dared not do so.
This satisfied me that Genazzini was
a member of the Camorra, but pre-
tended not to know that such a society
existed. He had lost his thumb and
forefinger In some accident or fracas
and told me that that was the reason
he would do no stealing himself. He
would always be liable to be identi-
fed by his missing digits.
When l entered his service he gave
me better clothes, and displayed suf-
ficient intelligence for him to mani
fest friendship for me. 1 asked him
one day II he knew anything about
the murder Of the American lady. He
made no reply. but had my eye fixed
on his when I asked the question, and
practice had made me very expert in
getting unintentional replies from the
human eye. l was sure that he knew
all about the case I referred to.