The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1915-02-24
A Detective $
Reminiscence
By NJ. QUAD
Copyright, 1915. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.

When l retired from detective work
after an experience OF sixteen years
the public press and my friends were
pleased to say that l had done excel
lent service. On the whole. this praise
was deserved. but at the same time.
in one case ut least. had shown Il
stupidity worthy OF the greenest pa.
trolman on London's police force.
had been ut Scotland Yard for three
years when l removed my family to
Qneen street. 1t was to an apartment
house. and We took the second floor.
On the floor above were mnrried
couple named Hadan. The man. as
came to understand. WAS manufac.
turing jeweler in small way. The
Hadans lived very quietly and made
no display. and the wife kept very
much to herself. Not as detective,
but as an occupant. ! learned that the
husband was home only two nights
q week.
At about the time Of my removal !
was set to watch in u general way u
certain dealer in bric-a -brac named
Saunders. His shop was good three
miles from Queen street. He dealt In
all manner Of art goods. secondhand.
and 1t had been pretty we'll established
that he bought goods without asking
any questions. In watching him as.
sumed another identity and became
customer. We came to be ON quite
friendly terms. and fiattered myself
that he had not the slightest suspicion
OF the part was playing. At one
time and another was the means OF
IL number of householders to
recover stolen goods Saunders haH
bought. but the man always evadcd
the law. got to know that I've lived
In Jane street. only few blocks away.
where he had Il wife and one child.
One Of our men occupied a room In
the same house. and In II casuai way
he had learned that Saunders was
home only two nights week. He
came and went as did my neishbor
Hadan.
A year after ] begun. 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 tallors
declared the goods must be stolen. AS
a matter Of fact. several bolts Of cloth
stolen from a tailor in q town fifty
miles away were found in his shop.
but he proved himself clear of the law
by a narrow margin. became a GUS
toner Of his. as had been OF Saun-
ders. There were times when we had
a glass OF ale and pipe together. and
from the very outset l used my best ef-
forts to get on to his little game. He
continued to make suits to order fur
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 got no
information from him to help my case.
| early asccrtained that he lived In
place aud had wife and
two children. BY the merest accident
l further learned that Mr.. Dawson
was at home only three nights a week.
Now. then. for six years I knew these
three men. and two of them were un.
der espionage. talked with them. ate
with them. drank with them and never
imbibed the faintest idea that WAS
the biggest foo! in the world. One day
a man who YVES In a machine shop not
far from detective headquarters was
killed by accident. ! happened to be
almost the flrst one on hand. recog-
nized him at once MS the tailor. and the
body was taken home. While doing
his work the undertaken found that
the black hair end mustache and wart
that he wore were all false. This was
q revelation even to tue wife. The
affair was published in the papers. and
in less than two days It was found that
Hadan. Saunders and Dawson were
one and the same man. He had pad
ded his body to increase bis size and
apparent weight. and q 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 mln
had made study Of Disgusting bis
voice.
You will say that good detective
ought to penetrate such shallow dis
guises as false whiskers. In answer to
that let me say that whiskers or mus
tache Gun be nude to look SO genuine
that no living man can detect the
cheat. The wart was new dodge ana
ope was not up to. 1t was 50 well
done that had seen the man pick 1t
with pin and cringe a little rs he did
It I should have felt bad enough ut
being fooled even had there been NO
case In It, but there was n case. The
was "fence" for thieves.
the .bric-a.brac man was another. and
the tailor was a third He was MR.
ried to three different women: he lived
in three different prts Of the city; he
carried on three occupations: he rep
resented three different men. All this
he did successfully for six or seven
years and but for the fatal accident
might have gone on for years more.
During his career he had made for.
tune. ind never person had suspect
ed the DISCUSSES. 1t seems as II II wife
should have detected them. but the
three did not, or Mt least So claimed.
Yes, 1 was made fool of. hut fortu-
nately I was the only one who kne,
II and 4 mnY rive the fact AWAY now