Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1922-04-22
True
Detective Stories
THE DOUBLE CRIME

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copyris ~ BY The Wheeler Syndicate. Inc
TT WAS In the late summer OF 1908
that the New York police discovered
the body of man. evidently an
Italian. concealed In a barrel on the
East side. Every mark that could
possibly supply clue to his identifi-
cation had been removed--even the
labels had been clipped from his
clo,hes-and the manner in which his
face had been mutllated rendered him
totally unrecogniZablc.
But. Just as the case was about to
be entered upon the book Of New
York's unsolved mysteries, II was
cleared up through coincidence so
startling that no writer OF detective
fiction would have dared make use
of II.
On the night OF the murder. William
J. Flynn, then chief of the Eastern
division If the United States secret
service, with headquarters in New
York, was working on one of the
occur so frequently In the Italian Sec
ton of the metropolis.
Flynn himself was elected TO trail a
pair Of Italians whom he had reason
10 believe were working for or with
the cOunterfeiters The trail led to
an Italian grocery, where from the
shadow OF doorway across the
street, the government detective could
see into u lighted room In the suspect
ed house. few moments later a
covered wagon drew up in front OF
the house, n man got out, entered the
grocery. and made his way into the
very room that Flynn was watching.
The light from the lamp fell directly
upon his face. and the secret service
operative realized that this must be
new addition to the gang. for he was
certainly no one that he had seen be-
fore. Then the curtains To the win
dow We're drawn. and Flynn aban-
doned his chase for the time being,
The next morning the murdered
man was discovered. nearly half
mile from the place where Flynn had
hidden himself the night before It
was several days later that the opera
tive read the official account of the
crime and noted that the body had
been found in sugar barrel. partly
filed with hlood-staincd SawduSt. The
date of the murder. coupled with the
use of Il sugar barrel. recalled To the
operatives mind the fact that he had
been watching an Italian grocery ut
or about the time that the foreigner
had been killed. Merely to satisfy
himself that there was no connection
between the counterfeiiers and the
murdered man. Flynn went 10 the
/ mOrgue and examined the body. The
peculiar shape of the forehead. the
manner in which the hair Splayed out
/ above the prominent ears and the
/ bloodstaued green hat which had
+ been found in the barrel. told the story
beyond the shadow of n doubt II
/ was The stranger whom Flynn had
/ seen entering The store which he had
/ been watching
which pointed toward the operations
of the gang which he was after, Flynn
/ had the body photographed from n
number of angles. while experts In
/ phySingnomy reconstructed the fea-
/ lures tn something approaching life
/ like appearance. Then. armed with
/ these poSt-mortem pictures, Flynn
! took trip To- Ossining 10 see If any
/ Of the members ~ the Italian colony
/ In Sing Sing could identify the dead
man
The idea proved To be n good one,
/ for convict whom Flynn kncw-an
/ Italian serving time for another coun-
/ terfeiting case Identified the photo
graphs aS being those ~ his brother.
in-law. Marucna Benedetto. whom he
I described rs being peaceful hard
! working citizen who had never been
Implicated In any of the crimes of the
Italian settlement.
Working backward from this clue.
/ Flynn and the other secret service
operatives trailed the Italians whom
store on the night 0f the murder. and
/; was not hong before they had made
/ n complete roundup nf the gang. rs
WAS Ia he expected in n crime of this
nature. allhiS were plentiful. hut ms
WIS usual. these were none too well
supported by faci. and II was q com
pnrniivcly simple matter for the po'
lice To- got NJ the bottom of the case,
once The Identity of the victim had
been established.
\ judiclou> application Of the third
degree" brought IL light the fact that
Bcuedctin had been killed because he
had gotten wind Of the coun'erfetng
plot and because he was the brother
in.law of the man who later identified
the hody--a man who had incurred
the undying enmity Of his c0mpa-
rriots by turning states evidence. The
lnflexlhle laws Of the society "a which
they both helonged-one of the 50.
cieiieS which rules Little Italy with a
,.,,ta az trnu apd a hand of blppd-dp-