The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1917-08-21
An Amateur
Detective
A Young Woman's Efforts
to Find a Missing Girl.
By RUTH GRAHAM

N>~~% OAANN ADoANOhg AoJ LIE 0VhR III
morning paper. Helen Bowers lef
home to go to the high school on
morning nearly three weeks ago ant
has never been heard from SINCE VIII,
is 1t that we have so many detectiv
stories unraveling imaginary mysterie
and yet no one ever solves real ones 2
why don't you try your hand a
this case, Grace?" asked her sister
Amelia. Take it up independent,
of the police and investigate it your
self. You complain Of having nothing
to interest you. By endeavoring Il
find out what has become of this miss
ing girl you win be relieved of emu
and may do great deal Of good"
Miss Barlow, a young woman TWEEN
ty-three years old, possessing an in
come sufficient for her support, vel
educated, intensely practical, was Sc
to thinking by her sisters words. Sh,
was not person who would enkel
upon work to abandon it at the frs
encouragement. Consequently sh,
conned over in her mind the rebuff:
she would be obliged to encounter
One of the principal of these would
come from the police, who are not dis
posed to brook any amateur trespass
ing on their legitimate domain. On
the other hand, the family of the
missing girl might be thankful for hel
effort. 1t required two whole days
for Miss Barlow to weigh these con
stderations, at the end Of which she
decided to begin work on the case Noi
the missing girl and never cease hel
efforts so long as there was clew tC
follow.
Her first visit was to police head.
quarters. She found Inspector Blake
man, middle aged man, sitting be-
hind a rosewood desk which was GOV.
cred with papers.
Il have called" she said, ito ask ii
can be of any assistance to the police
in their efforts to discover the where
abouts of Helen Bowers, who disap.
peared recently and has never been
seen or heard of since. have decided
to interest myself in the case. shall
work independently Of the police. but
before beginning desire to know II
you will give me such information as
you may possess concerning the mys.
terry"
THAT we cannot do. We work upon
our clews In our own way. They are
known only to ourselves. Any giving
away Of them would be likely to de-
feat our success. A secret once part
ed With is henceforth no secret"
you are perfectly right about it,"
said Miss Barlow. II did not expect
that you would trust me with what
Information you may possess. But
prefer that you should know that 1
am working on the case. I presume
you have no objection"
"The law allows any one to work on
the case. and you are perfectly free to
do so. can only say that the more
amateur detective work that is inject
ed into hunting for crime the less
chance there is for us experienced In
vestigators to succeed"
Having thus delivered himself, the
inspector signifed that the interview
was ended and turned again to his pa
pers. Miss Barlow withdrew.
She had kept the address Of the fam
lily of the missing girl as given in the
newspapers, and her next visit was
there. She found the girls mother
bowed down with grief.
Mrs. Bowers" said Grace, 81 have
determined to try to solve the mys-
terry Of your daughters disappearance.
/ do so simply for the sake of doing
good. Tell me about your daughter"
The woman gave description Of the
missing girl She was fifteen years
old, considered pretty and was Of ex-
cellent character. She had no lover
so far as the mother knew.
Have you any suspicious as to what
has become Of herr" asked Grace.
Il know what has become of her up
to certain point One Of her school
mates saw a woman speak to her on
the street the morning she disappeared. !"
Have you stated this to the policeT"
II have not only stated it to them,
but have begged them to investigate
this woman, who is known to us, since
my daughter was seen to go with her
into candy shop she keeps"
What have the police done about it?"
"They tell me that they have gone
through the house containing the candy
shop and Intercepted the woman, who
admits she took a girl answering Helen's
description to her shop on the morning
Helen disappeared to sell her some can
dy. She makes a peculiar kind which
girls are very fond of and sells it very
cheap. She sometimes solicits custom
Of children and accosted Helen, who
went with her to her shop and bought
some candy. A young man followed
them into the shop, bought some more
candy, which he gave to Helen and
they left the shop together"
What do the police say about this2"
"They say that the woman in ques-
ton bears an excellent reputation; that
hundreds Of young girls every year go
off with young men willingly or under
deception and are never heard Of again
Their theory is that Helen went away
with the young man who Joined her in
the store"
Grace Barlow pondered awhile on this
statement, then asked:
lis there any evidence of your daugh-
ter having left the candy store with a
man except that of the candy seller%
"No."
"Is there any other evidence Of her
having left the store at all?"
mo"
THAT means for me that this part Of
the story is of no moment whatever.
We must look for the girls abductor,
for 1 believe from what already know
that she has been abducted by the per-
son with whom she was last seen. The
story that this woman solicits custom
ers for her candy on the street ls not
probable. If the police pretend to be-
lieve it they only pretend; they know
better. Be of good heart, my good wo-
man. I think / see an outlet to the
matter. / shall do some investigating,
and in the meanwhile say nothing of
this visit. We can keep a secret as well
as the police"
Miss Barlow suspected the police of
collision with the candy woman.
What object they had IN screening her
she did not know. She had heard that
the police Of the city were VIGOROUSLY
corrupt, and 1t was known to most
persons that they were bribed for per-
hitting houses to be used for gambling
and other Illegal purposes.
She reconnoitered the candy shop.
1t was small place with very poor
stock. She asked frowsy girl behind
the counter for certain kind of can
dy Of which the proprietor made a
speciality and was handed something
Of which she bought a small quantity.
Meanwhile her eyes were open. She