The Raymer enterprise., 1911-10-05
The Robbery al The Tower
AN ADVENTURE OF PETER CREWE-.THE MAN
WITH THE CAMERA EYES"
BY H A R o L D CARTER

scyibed. and which Peter Crewe was
enabled to solve by his peculiar op.
teai powers. we struck up warm
friendship. II was arranged that we
should work together in the future for
the solution Of any similar difficulties
which might come to me In the course
OF my professional career. We had
arranged to catch the next steamship
for America, but on the day before
she sailed there occurred in London a
robbery OF such mysterious charac.
ter that neither OF us could resist the
temptation to remain and lend our
aid to the discovery OF the criminal.
Everybody remembers how the ia.
nous Gwyn jewels were stolen from
the Tower OF London. These emer.
aids. which had historic rather
than any especial intrinsic value, had
been presented by Charles II. to his
famous fayorite. and were preserved
in a small chamber In the Tower,
where were stored miscellaneous
treasures OF secondary importance
not usually placed on public exhibl.
ton. They we're kept In an Isolated
building. round turret which ran
straight up to height OF seventy
feet, and was absolutely inaccessible
from the outside, the brick walls al.
fording not the slightest foothold. In
fact there was no direct access to
this tower at all. since 1t connected
with the main building by series OF
passagewnys. intricate. and entirely
unapproachable except from the cen.
ira building, 200 yards away, which
was guarded by a file OF soldiers
This turret had small barred win.
dow overlooking the road, 60 feet up
II was too high for any thief to throw
up a graphing hook; In short moth
Ing but fireman's ladder could have
gained access to It from the outside.
Yet In spite Of this the window was
entered from the outside, bar was
removed from the mortar setting. and
the thief gained entrance. obtained
possession OF the emeralds. and calm.
ly descended, unobserved. The rob.
berry was not discovered until the fol-
lowing day. by which time the perpe.
traitor of the crime had got safely
away
The daring nature OF the crime ex-
cited all London II was certain that
no ladder had been used to gain ad.
mittance While the tower was un.
garded, persons were continually
passing and rcpassing in the road be.
meath. and any such device would
have been speedily detected. the
more so lnasmuch as any ladder
placed against the wall would have
been set at such an angle that It
would have blocked the sidewalk un-
derpeath.
On the third day after the robbery
the emcralds were discovered In the
pawnshop Of n notorious fence" In
Whltechapel region They had been
left there by an Italian, the man con.
fesscd when threatened with prose.
cutiou Neighbors OF the pnwnbroker
confirmed this statement An timer.
ant organ grinder, accompanied by n
monkey. had been seen to enter the
pawnshop on the day after the rob
berry His monkey seemed to be
sick. one neighbor added. It was
wrapped In blankets and lay lstlessly
on the top OF the organ. II was an
extremely large animal and those who
saw II had received the impression
that II was chimpanzee, but nothing
Of It could be seen, since It was
swathed from head TO foo,
Other witnesses confirmed this
statement. 1t was. furthermore.
known that an Italian organ grinder
had been seen in the vicinity OF the
tower for several days before the rob.
berry. Although he had chosen the
worst place for the plying OF his
trade. and had taken In practically
nothing. he had cheerfully ground out
his tunes day after day at the base OF
the turret. His monkey. however,
lay on the top Of the organ, Just as
the other witnesses had described.
and never stirred a muscle. Some
children. who had tried to pet Il.
were angrily "shooed" away by the
organ-grinder. who asserted that the
animal was sick.
That was all that could be learned.
All the itinerant organ.grinders In
London were promptly investigated
by the police. but no man with such
an animal was found Although the
Jewels had been recovered. fear Of
other daring robberies OF a similar
kind impelled the authorities to prose.
cute their search In the most vigorous
manner.
"Thc first thing to do" said Crewe
to me. when We had agreed to do our
best to unravel tho mystery. rs to
look at tho turret."
We went thlther accordingly and
found curious crowl standing in n
solid phalanx at the base OF the
tower. gazing up at the .rlck walls.
while couple Of policemen stolidly
moved them on whenever their nun.
bers became too great for street
trafiic to pass. II seemed impossible