Rockingham post-dispatch. [volume] (Rockingham, N.C.) 1917-1965, 1921-03-03
The Indelible
Clue
70. 1920. ty The Wheeler syndlcate)

The speaker, William ]. Burns, then
connected with the United States
secret service, glanced up from his
examination of large sofa which his
associates had stopped just as it was
on the point of being shipped from
New York to Costa Rica-a sofa which
was stuffed, not with wool or hair, but
with $2,000000 worth of counterfeit
Costa Rican money, destined to finance
Latin-American revolution.
So far as the men who had been
working on the case had been able to
discover, there was no way in which
to trace the shipment. 1t had been
brought to the dock in an ordinary
dray which, having unloaded its bur
den, had driven off, to be lost among
thousands Of others of its kind in the
streets of New York OF the men who
had shipped the sofa, the men re-
sponsible for counterfeiting the cur
rency of friendly nation, there was
no indication whatever.
But Burns made a careful, almost
microscopic, examination of the bur
lap with which the furniture had been
wrapped. Down in one corner, half
obliterated, he discovered peculiar
mark-the numerals go NX 64'-whch
the detective rightly presumed re-
ferred in some way to the manufaC-
turerS of the fabric.
IpCI1iI,x tbrOt1Ul, channels
brought the information that burlap
of that kind, bearing the "NN" mark,
was sold by only one concern in the
East. But even that discovery didn't
bring Burns much closer to his quarry,
for the books of the firm in questions
showed that more than 1000 dealers
had purchased "NX" bur!ap within the
past year. One by one these dealers
were eliminated, until only six re-
manned. Among these was'a furnituSe
house in Long Island City and when
that store opened for business on the
following morning q Square-jaWed,
stockily-built man of medium height
entered and asked to see the manager.
"My name is Burns" he stated, flip
ping back the lapel of his coat in such
a way as to afford glimpse Of his
secret service badge. II would like
to have the Opportunity of looking at
the stock of burlap which you have
on hand at the present time, in order
to assist the government in running
down case of considerable impGr
lance"
But right there the man who SOLVED
many mysteries ran into a snag. None
| of the burlap bore the ''2 NN G4' mark,
The ''XN' was there, but the numer
ais We're all different.
"When did you get this stock in?'
asked the detective.
about a month ago" was the reply
"Have you any of the former mate,
rial on hand?"
The manager was inclined to thinl
| not, but careful search of the ware.
| house brought to light single piece,
of the former supply and there, in the
| corner, was the clue that Burns had
hoped to find-the indelible so NX Ga"
"Now," snapped the secret service
man, "if you will let me see your
books for the past three or four
months, l won't bother you any
longer"
That same afternoon Burns and two
of his associates rang the bell Of
house in Brooklyn occupied by Mrs.
Loni, who was, according to the clerk
who had made the sale, "a Spanish
woman who insisted upon buying a
sofa of a certain kind, well padded
and heavily stuffed" The sofa an
swered the description of the one
which was being held at the wharf,
and the very fact that the purchaser
had been Spanish added the final con-
Meeting link. But, in order to avoid
any possible slipup, Burns located the
expressman who had taken the furni-
ture from the Loni house to the dock
"a feat which was far from difficult
once he had clue to the location of
the home of the counterfeiters.
AS he had expected Mrs. Loni dis
claimed any knowledge Of the ship
ment and fell back upon professed
lack of understanding of English to
holster up her position. To her amaze
ment, the detective replied in fluent
Spanish, informing her that he had all
the facts in the case--the statement of
the clerk who had sold the sofa, the
expressman who had carted it to the
dock and the fact that he had seen
with his own eyes 100000 in coun-
terfeit bills taken from the piece of
furniture.
"This house is surrounded" con-
cluded Burns. give got my hand on
my gun and I'm going to stay right
here until land the men who made
that money if it takes me" hut it
didn't take as long as he had expected,
for, as he spoke, the woman's sosl-in-
law, Ricardo de Requesans, stepped
into the room and admitted that he
and another Spaniard had been re-
sponsible for making and planting the
counterfeits.
''The next time you try to pull off
anything Of the kind" Burns said as
he took them into custody, "be careful
of the markings on the burlap you use.
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