Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-11-21
MYSTERIES eAFFLE sLEUTHs
Queer Instances In Which Supposed
Crimes Proved Merely Uncommon

Crimes PROVED Merely uncommon
Events.
Police of the East Side were puzzled
short time ago by the finding of a
trunk which had lain for hours at the
corner of Fifteenth street and Fourth
avenue. Inquiry developed that 1t had
been abandoned by it's supposed owner,
who had arrived from abroad on the
previous day, and who had deserted his
property after having 1t taken to the
corner in a taxicab.
In the belief that the trunk was the
key, probably. to some deep mystery
crime, perhaps-it was taken to a po-
lice station and forced open. All the
police could find were some well worn
clothing, shirts, collars and other arti-
cles of mans apparel. What became
of the owner and what was his purpose
in abandoning the trunk and private
effects. which certainly were valuable
enough to merit safe storage? The
trunk Is now in the office of the prop
erty clerk, that storehouse of mystic
ries. but it's secret probably never will
be revealed.
This incident" said veteran de-
tective to a Herald reporter, reminds
me of many similar queer events, some
of which have been explained, but the
greater number of which are still en-
veloped in deep mystery. Some of the
incidents of which l am going to speak
have been mentioned by the newspa-
.ers, but many have not. AS much Of
the success of detectives depends upon
the greatest secrecy, the history OF
their best cases, especially when they
remain unsolved. seldom gains public
ity"
The detective spoke of the finding
last spring of sealed trunk In the
basement of a house in West Fifty
fourth street, where it had remained,
covered with CRIME and dirt, for seven
years. Scores of tenants had passed
and repassed it without giving 1t or its
contents a single thought. One day 1t
was opened and found to contain the
skeleton of a man. An investigation
was made but the mystery of the trunk
and of the bones of the murdered man
It contained is as deep as ever.
Such cases as this" said the detec-
tive, offer the investigator abundant
opportunities to distinguish himself.
but in the successful investigation Of
crime the element of time is an impor-
tant factor in the solution of particular
cases Where years elapse between
the commission of crime and it's dis
covery, the chances of discovering the
criminals are proportionately less, be-
cause the criminals have been widely
scattered or died or disappeared.
Then, again, what may appear to be
a crime at first thought may prove to
be a perfectly natural event.
To explain this mus tell you of a
supposed diamond robbery that was
brought to the attention Of an agency
with which 1 was connected some
wears ago. A woman Of wealth sent
to us for a man in the greatest haste
one day, and 1 was assigned to the
case. 1 went to her house In upper
Fifth avenue, and in a recital punctu-
ated by tears and sobs the woman told
me she had been robbed Of pigeon
blood ruby and diamond ring of the
value of $4,000. 1t was on her dress
er when she retired for the night, but
when she awoke in the morning, she
said, it had disappeared.
1.-The woman told me her door had
been locked from the inside by her,
and with the exception OF her two
bedroom windows, which faced the
avenue, there was no other entrance
to the chamber. The windows were
thirty feet to the ground, and l made
up my mind the thieves did not get
into the room that way. AS the door
was locked from the inside, with the
key undisturbed. 1t was unreasonable
to suppose the burglar got into the
room by that means.
Puzzled, | searched a small bath
room opening upon the chamber, put
with the exception Of a hole as big as
your thumb in the marble tiling in
one corner / could find nothing to
shed light upon the manner Of the
theft. l almost took that dresser, a
handsome bird's-eye maple affair.
apart in the belief that the jewel
might have been thrust into some
corner Of its spacious drawers. but
failed to find anything except evil
dences that mice had quite recently
made the dresser their abiding place.
This gave me an idea, and, al
though the woman steadily maintain
ed she had not seen a mouse In her
7 n.
and that night I placed it before the
hole in the tiling in the corner Of the
bathroom and waited in the adjoining
apartment, which had been relinquish-
ed by the woman to me. A reward or
81, 900 had been offered for the recoy-
cry of the ring, and no questions were
to be asked. Presently / heard a
swapping of steel and ! knew that
something had got into my trap. ]
ran into the bathroom, and as ! turn
ed on the electric light the first thing
that caught my eye was the CLINT OF
jewels, and it proved to be glorious
sight indeed for me-"
what was it?" inquired the report
er as the detective chuckled.
The stolen ring" was the answer.
1T had been wedged around the
mouse's throat as neatly as II 1t had
been made for 1t. / snuffed out the
life of the mouse, removed the ring
and found it perfectly intact. How
did it get there? There's only one ex-
planation. In nosing about for food
on the dresser the mouse in some
manner got its head through the ring,
and, unable TO take 1t off, had de-
camped with it to its hole. 1t was a
fine nights work for me. as we'll as
for the woman, who was in esctasies
over the recovery of her jewel. 1t Is
needless TO say that ring never again
will be stolen by mouse, for that
telltale hole in the tiling has been
sealed up with plaster Of paris. edged
with glass;
The detective told Of the finding Of
handbag containing $1,000 in green
backs in a taxicab three years ago,
the owner of which never was found.
The chauffeursaid an elderly man car
rying the bag mad hailed him and
was driven to Park row, where, after
paying his fare, he disappeared. The
man was traced to bank near Wall
street. but his identity never was dis
closed The strangest part of the
affair was that the loss of the money