Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-09-09

i
oh, that was left here bysa Mrs. =.
who was, suppose, hard up, answer
ed the other.
The name given was different from
that of the owner of the necklace. but
the detective produced photograph
from his pocket.
rs that the woman who sold it to
you?' he asked. 1S.
The shopkeeper nodded.
Within five minutes the wires were
at work, and the lady was under ar
rest The coincidence that she could
possess two pearl necklaces exactly
alike was TOO remarkable 1t turned
out that her husband had played the
part of the street. thief, and at their
trial both the conspirators were sent
TO penal servitude. - ,.-z;-.s..S-
In the office of a. firm2of assessors, to
Lloyd's near the bank there reposes.
on mantelpiece partly, burned
wooden clock. which Brought cum
ming rascal TO jail. ~ ~
This man had insured a country
house and its contents for some thou
sands of pounds Ultimately a letter
reached the insurance company. stat
ing that the place had been burned
down, and preferring a claim The
letter was handed to the assessors, and
in company with detective, a MEM
Der of the firm went down to inspect
the ruins.
The insured mans story was plau-
sible enough. His family and servants
had left for the holidays He himself
had stayed behind for a little to see
the house locked up. When he left at
a quarter to four everything was all
right
HIM" said the detective. What
train did you eatch?'
1.-The four-twenty- five l left here at
a quarter to 4. / particularly noticed
the time
And you're sure the house wasn't
on fire when you left it?"
Absolutely certain"
The Secret Service man stepped gin
gery across the ruins and picked up
something.
Did you see your time by your
watch or a clock?" he asked.
by the oak clock in the dining
room
This is an oak clock" said the de-
teetives ttnd then significantly; 1T
has stopped at seven minutes past 81
| The clock was the main piece of evil
denee against the man when he took
| his trial for attempted fraud
Cases in which murder is suspected
| for the sake of insurance money are
usually left entirely to the official po-
| lice. But the more willy rogues invent
opportunities, which permit them to
chance getting the money without
running the risk of the gallows
An instance of this sort occurred
some. years since A man, whom we
shall call Smith-which is not his true
name-insured his life for big sum in
| favor of his wife. short time after
ward his house was burned down,
with Smith in it, according to the sto
ny of his bereaved widow.
Sure enough, among the ruins were
found bones--the bones of human be-
ing. Smith has been there the night
before. and he was gone. What could
be clearer? Coroner's jury held an
inquest on the remains, and the wild
| ow applied for a settlement. But an
| idea struck one of the detectives He
had the bones examined by experts.
who declared them to be- those of an
lold skeleton. But Mrs. Smith was not
leasily daunted.
You say my husband is not dead"
she said to the representative of the.
company. 1.-The Coroner's jury said. he
vas. If he is alive, prove it." -
She was quite calm and business
| like.
| The detectives, however, were not
defeated. They took up her challenge.
and began the search for the man
they were convinced was alive. Soon
err or later. they guessed, she would
write to him, and, with that idea,
they began to watch her correspon-
dence. 1t did not prove difficult tn
adopt ruse by which the letters she
sent to post were scrutinized ere they
were dropped in a pillar-box. They
found that she wrote pretty frequent
ly to "Mr. Harris" care of the post
office of a provincial town.
| 1t remained to get glimpse of "Mr.
Harris, and TO prove that he and Mr..
Smith were one and the same per-
son. That was more difficult. for he
called for his letters at infrequent and
irregular intervals. The detectives
watched vigilantly at the postofice.
and to make sure addressed letter
to Mr.. Harris themselves.
l. At last he called for the letters. One
'lglimpse was enough to identify him.
land in few seconds he was handed
,lpver to the police. His wife joined
him in a well-merited seclusion for a
lpefiod of years
i There are scores of cases in which
the secret service of Lloyd's is engaged
of which the public never hear for
, sometimes they may obtain evidence
which will justify an insurance COM
pany in refusing to pay claim, but
would not justify a charge of fraud.
But he is a clever swindler who baf-
files them on the rare occasions when
an insurance company is duped.-An-
swers.