Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

naping case was fairly clear. A gang
that drugged it's victim, stole an open
launch, got one of the confederates to
play drunk and to support the
drugged young man on his arm, while
two others sang as they went down
the Thames, was no ordinary gang.
There was originality and holiness
in the procedure. At the mouth of
the Thames there was undoubtedly a
yacht waiting to take the Prince
on board and sail--where? Special
Branch eliminated America as the
possible port of call for whatever
vessel had borne the drugged young
Prince away. Which left only all of
Europe. Asia, Africa and Australia
to search.
The bobby could remember only
vaguely the other young men of the
party-it was night and the boat was
poorly lit. But that gay note of the
abductors singing he was sure Of. So
on that slender thread Scotland Yard
began to spin its web
u X
ONE of the most effective weapons
~ in the criminal hunting arsenal
of that institution is based on the
richly proved fact that criminals are
creatures of habit, like the rest of
their fellow men. and that they repeat
successful techique in their crimes
just as a popular novelist repeats
tricks of writing that have already
proved "sure-fre.'
There is therefore at Scotia nd Yard
vast catalogue, the Criminal Registry
Office, or &C. r. o. as it is Familiarity
spoken of in the Yard, consisting of
scores of thousa nds of cards in steel
cabinets, on which are noted the
tricks and turns convicted criminals
had used in the carrying out of, their
crimes
Singing to cover UP their crooked
work, eh?' murmured a scholarly
looking man in G.. r. o. Let's see
who else likes to sing at his work"
1t was Inspector Hendry, the man in
charge Of G. #. O. and largely It's
creator. Bending over some of the
drawers in the steel cabinets, he be-
gan thumbing some of the many cards
there. He or one of his assistants
would be another of the figures / pro-
posed in our picture puzzle at the be-
ginning of this article.
After some time 10 cards were
taken out of the catalogue for further
study. On all of them were recorded
only the vaguest, most remote re.
semblances to the sort of thing Scot
land Yard was looking for. But in
the lexicon of the Yard there is no
such phrase as too remote q pos
sihiity to bother with"
So a squad of men was put to work
tracing the whereabouts of the 10 men
selected as possibilities in the case.
The interest finally focused on a
young man who was known to Scot
land Yard as 1.-The singing plumber"
The record showed that Samuel
Westwick, alias Pipes, alias several re-
spectacle sounding names, was con-
yicted of burglary, had served several
! years and was now somewhere in the
wilderness of London. 1t seems that
| prior to his conviction there had been
u series of robberies in the West End
of London that had puzzled the pc.
| lice considerably.
Finally Scotland Yard found an
| element common to all these robberles.
| There had been a plumber at work in
| each of the houses robbed, a gay
young fellow who sang at his work.
| Now, 1t Is human nature to trust a
man whose heart is so light that he
sings at his work.
SO the singing plumber had little
trouble in doing his looting unsus-
pected--until Scotland Yard gave him
chance to sing at his work in prison.
But since his release from prison
some months before the kidnapping of
the Prince, he had not been in trouble.
Such was the clue, if it can be called
that, Scotland Yard had to work
with. A search throughout London's
underworld resorts soon located
Samuel Westwick. He seemed to be
at ease in the world, living in comfort