The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1918-06-22
A Woman
Detective
BETHEL HOLMES

lcopyrignt 1917. "ssss1n
80. ,ssr little of the work Of wom-
detectiyes, but for my part l uOI
whv women should not excel IN
~. ana A detective needs the rae
liz ~ noticing small things, as inulca.
ulty ~ 80 filings, and that is just
r. ants reason /, q woman, Q
80 detective field BY which to make
mvsne and succeeded. My first case
~.ss me 4 standing that another mlgn.
ave been years In acquiring. Du'
wsIl admit there was an eiemen' VI
luck in 1t. q, .
family of some means living IN q
az very attractive portion Of the CITY
h.d the misfortune to lose a little giri
ssvsn wears Of age. They felt sure the
AHA had been kidnapped for rans'm'
though there was not the slightest evi-
dence to support the theory. The noun
- had left the little girl on her door-
stems while she went to the next
door neighbor for a chat. She saio
that she was away only a few minutes
hut her statements proved tnat the
fine of her absence was nearly an
bour. At any rate, when she returned
to her own house her daughter vas
NOT an the steps nor in the house
Tha next day the mother gave the
case TO the detective agency where !
had inst been employed. i would NOT
have been assigned to the WORK hao
not every other detective In the en-
n,ov Of the Office been busy. As 1t was,
the chief turned It over to me with q
lot of instructions which were intend
ed to make up for my inexperience.
As soon as / left him ! went to work
In INV own way. After an interview
with the mother I made up my mind
that the child had been kidnapped, ana
I thought 1t likely that the hdnaper
Inhabited the region not far away
which was filed with foreigners OF a
very low type. ! put an advernse-
ment in several foreign language
newspapers that circulated In the re-
gion, stating that IL the hdnapers OF
the child-giving the street and num-
ber-would leave a statement Of the
ransom required under the front door,
the case could be settled without re-
course to the police.
Within two or three days Mrs. Smith,
burger, the mother, Games to me with
a note that had been thrust under
the front door. I examined II closely
before opening 1t, but found no clue.
II had been written by an uneducated
person, evidently a foreigner. since sew
eral words in 1t seemed to have been
supplied from some foreign language.
took 1t to my former perceptor at the
Normal school, who knew something
of every language spoken on the face
Of the earth, and after a careful study
Of 1t he told me that It had been die
tated by an Irishman, but the writer
was an italian.
Much surprised at this report ask
ed him how he knew this and
he said that certain English words
were spelled as an freshman would pro-
nounce them, and there were certain
words that were distinctly Irish. One
of these was the word between. which
was spelled betune. The professor
pointed out a number Of these In
stances, and l was convinced that his
theory was correct. Either an irish
man or an Italian was the culpfit, and
probably both were interested IN the
ransom demanded. which was 1000.
! dictated q response to the mother
Of the child, stating that the ransom
demanded would be paid and skiing
where 1t could be left. When tie re-
Spouse was handed to me I examlned
1t critically, as I had the first etter
before opening 1t, but I found mly a
dirty envelope. I was sitting belore a
table made Of light wood. After Fead-
ing the letter, / noticed on the light
surface a black hair about an inch
long. I felt sure that 1t had not been
there before l had opened the alter,
and surmised that 1t had fallen from
the envelope. / took up the hair and
examined 1t closely. 1t was a gDssy
black. with a tinge Of grease, except
on the larger end, where there was
possibly a sixteenth of an inch Of red.
/ reasoned that I had a very low
class, considered Intellectually, to deal
with. and bethought myself how I
could make the k~idnapers believe that
| knew them. After a good deal Of
thinking, I concluded to resort again
to communication through the nevspa-
per. / put a personal In the papers /
had already used as follows:
The kidnapers of the little girl (of
such a street and number) are known
to me. If you will return the child nm
harmed. you win not be prosecuted. II
you do not you will be sent To state