The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-11-03

transaction.
A well-known detective once over H/,
threw an insurance fraud that was HRMz
all but perfect in detail. The fire M&%&
was to all appearances an accident MT#%
and there was nothing on the sur Mfk-
face to indicate fraud. NOtwithStand- Ma5SsI
ing, the officer went into court to MA
contest the claim for insurance and IN
to prosecute the insured. The case nv
went slowly along until the defend IH/
ants put in their claim, mostly for VIZ
expensive furniture. Then the officer *
showed his hand. He produced the
entire remains of the fire in the form Of ash and
charred wood and convinced the jury that the fire
was not only of an incendiary origin, but that
there was nothing of value in the building.
The owners of the furniture had described n
number Of brass beds, elaborate, brass-fnished
furniture, dreSsers, wardrobes. trunks. tables,
lamps and other metal-bOund articles. The de-
tectve showed that there was not a trace of
metal in the ash-no hinges, knobs or brass bed
fraines-nothing in fact but several hundred nails,
such as come from packing cases. While it was
impossible TO prove arson, the insurance was
never paid, as the insured fled the same night.
Rancher Robbery Victim.
only a few weeks ago Il LankerShim ruucher
saved 50, 700 and sent Il dishonest broker TO iail
for II long term by breaking up the elaborate story
Of the accused. The rancher drew the money from
a local bank for the purpose Of purchasing an adj
ditional piece of ground. He went to his home TO
meet the agent, and while awaiting his arrival
worked about a windmill in the yard. Becoming
warm with the eXertion of tightening up a number
of rods and replacing n number of iron pipes the
rancher removed his coat and hung il on a board
at the well. After Il time he went to a nearby
building to secure an additional section of pipe.
On his return the coat was on the ground. the
money missing. The rancher heard the mufied
roar OF an automobile driven at q high rate of
speed and rushing into the road saw a small ma
chine GiS1nnpDrinp In a cloud nF duct Tho
rancher believed he recognized the brokers' auto
mobile, and going to a telephone he notified the
police and sheriffs office of the theft and of his
suspicion of the broker.
But while waiting to hear from the officers the
rancher was surprised to observe the broker COM
ing down the road in an entirely different car
than the one he usually rode. The rancher for
maly welcomed the broker, made a quiet state-
ment of the robbery and then declared that he
had recognized the thief. He did not mince
words, but openly accused the broker OF the theft.
While the men were w~ranglinG a deputy sheriff
appeared.
The rancher was so positive In his identifca-
ton Of the broker as being the person that had
fed that the deputy placed the man under arrest.
\ search of the brokers' safe revealed several
sums of currency that totaled q little more than
S2,IOO. The broker fell back on the plea that
there could be no Identification of money unless
it was marked or unless the numbers on the bills
We're produced. Nevertheless. after n c~onsulta-
ton between the rancher and a deputy district
attorney a warrant was issued. The money in
the brokers' safe was seized, placed in an en-
velOpe and marked evidence.
Al the trial the rancher was unable to prove
much of a case on the broker. The machine was
one of several million of the same model. He
could not swear whether the broker was in the
machine, and he acknowledged that he did not
have the numbers of the lost currency. Then The
broker was placed on the witness stand and en-
deavored to show that he was al 81 certain Office
at the very time of the robbery. Then by rela-
tives he tried to show that the money in his safe
had been delivered to him in several sums. Al
this point the district attorney called on several
persons who alleged they had paid him money
In each instance they declared the money had
been drawn either from a bank or had been Sc
cured on the day of delivery from another.
The district attorneys representative then arose
and walking over to the accused broker, broke the
seal on the package of money held as evidence
and, holding it in front of the prisoner, demanded
If there was any identifying mark on the cur
rency. Nonplused for the moment, the man re-
piled there was none. Turning TO the rancher the
deputy asked the same question. Eyes, there is
a decided mark Of identification on every bill" the
man replied. Turning back TO the broker the
deputy gave him another opportunity to identify
the money, and a third time appealed to him tC
know If there was any way in which he could es
tabliSh ownership.
Remember the rancher had not viewed the cur
rency since 1t went into the hands of the deputy
district attorney. The deputy then called on the
rancher to identify the money.
IF the bills In that package are mine the edges
will be found smeared with red lead. l dropped
the roll onto a splotch of the red lead while / was
working on my windmill and, after cleaning off Il,
much of the stuff as l could, l put the money in a
coat pocket, letting the damp edges project out
so they would dry. That is how this man (pohnt
ing to the prlsOner) came to see the money"
The bills were examined and each one was
found to have the telltale red mark along the
edge. More than that, three witnesses came for
ward to testify that they had observed traces Of
red on the brokers' hands on the day of his arres
and the broker declared that he must have GU
his hand"
He Forgot the Rain.
In a prepared story meant to deceive, quite n
likely as not the imposter viii Overdo his par