The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-04-16
A Detective
Renaissance
By M. QUAD
By M. QUAD
Copyright 1916. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.

When I retired from detective work
after an experience of sixteen years
the public press and my friends were
pleased to say that I had done excel
lent service. On the whole. this praise
vas deserved. but at the same time.
in one Ease al least, ! had shown a
stupidity worthy of the greenest pa
trolman on London's police force. /
had been at Scotland Yard for three
years when I removed my family to
Queen street It a to an apartment
house, and VI took the second door.
On the floor above were a married
couple named Hadan. The man, as l
came to understand. was a manufac-
turing jeweler in a small way. The
Hadans lived very quietly and made
no display, and the wife kept very
much to herself. Not as a detective,
but as an occupant. I learned that the
husband was home only two nights
a week. .M
At about the time Of my removal
was set to watch in a general way a
certain dealer in bric-a-brac named
Saunders. His shop was a good three
miles from Queen street He dealt In
all manner of art goods. secondhand.
and it had been pretty well established
that he bought goods without asking
any questions. In watching him l as
sumed another identity and became a
customer. We came to be on quite
friendly terms. and l fattered myself
that he had not the slightest suspicion
OF the part | was playing. At one
time and another l was the means OF
enabling a number Of householders to
recover stolen goods Saunders hao
bought, but the man always evaded
the law. got to know that he lived
in Jane street, only a few blocks away.
where he had a wife and one child.
One of our men occupied q room in
the same house. and in a casual way
he had learned that Saunders was
home only two nights a week. He
came and went as did my neighbor
Hadan. 49,.
A year after I began watching the
bric-a-brac shop there were complaints
made about a certain merchant tailor
named Dawson. He was making suits
to order so cheap that other tailors
declared the goods must be stolen. AS
a matter Of fact. several bolts Of cloth
stolen from q tailor in a town 6fty
miles away were found in bis shop.
but he proved himself clear Of the law
by a narrow margin. I became q. cus
toner Of his. as l had been of Saun-
ders. There were times when we had
q glass of ale and q pipe together. and
from the very outset ] used my best ef-
forts to get on to his little game. He
continued to make suits to order far
cheaper than his rival. but though his
shop was searched again and again no
more suspicious goods were found.
Dawson was full Of talk and seemed
to be without suspicion. but l got no
information from him to help my case.
I early ascertained that he lived In
Montgomery place and had a wife and
two children. By the merest accident
further learned TINT MI. Dawson
was at home only three nights n week.
Now. then. for six years ! knew these
three men, and two of them were I'M
der espionage. talked with them. ate
with them. drank with them and never
imbibed the faintest idea that I was
the biggest fool in the world. One day
q man who was In a machine shop not
far from detective headquarters was
killed by accident ! happened to be
almost the first n on hand. recog-
nized him at once as the tailor. and the
body was taken home. While doing
his work the undertaken found that
the black hair and mustarhe and wart
that he wore were all false. This was
q revelation even to the wife. The
affair was published in the papers. and
in less than two days 1t was found that
Hadan, Saunders and Dawson were
one and the same man. He had pad
ded his body to increase his size and
apparent weight. and a false tooth.
whiskers. mustache and a wart had
done the rest. You will say ] ought to
have detected the cheat BY the voice
In an ordinary case. yes. but this man
had made a study of Disgusting bis
voice.
You will say that a good detective
ought to penetrate such shallow dis
guises as false whiskers. n answer to
that let me say that whiskers or mus
tache can be made to look so genuine
that no living man. al detect the
cheat. The wart was a new dodge ana
one I was not up to. 1t was 50 well
done that | had seen the man pick It
with a pin and cringe a little as he did
It. should have felt bad enough at
being fooled even had there been no
case In it. but there was q case. The
stlversmith was a ''fence" for thieves.
the bric-a.brac man was another. and
the tailor was a third. he was mar
ried to three different women; be lived
in three different prts of the city; no
carried on three occupations; he rep
resented three different men. All this
he did successfully for stx or seven
years and but for the fatal accident
might have gone on for years mora
During his career he had made q for
tune. and never q person had suspect
ed the disguiseA. It seems a. u q wife