Evening star., 1927-10-23
BY GEORGE DILNOT.

Foremost Authority on Scotiahu aaru'
n ANY clever men have dice
N through one big mistake
Uv they underestimated Scotland
4 i Yard. They thought they
could get away with murder
A man thought that at the beginning
of this year. He killed woman
and within five weeks he was caught
convicted and hanged.
There have been 109 murders in Lon
don during the past five years, per
hans fewer than Chicago has in three
months. In Just four of those cases
have the murderers so far escaped
The Yard has shrewd idea of their
identity. but there have been legal
gaps in the evidence. One of these
DAYS those gaps will he filled up and
the four assassins will stand at the
bar. II Scotland Yard has a long
arm, it has also a long memory. Put
that record in terms of arithmetic, and
you will see that the chances against
the murderer in London are near
enough 81 to /.
There are all sorts of men among
the 900 detectives in London, but they
all know their jobs. They don't pre-
tend to do miracles, but they put it
over Sherlock Holmes. because they
never let go--they must get their man.
That is tradition of the service.
Behind them are the scientific re-
sources of Il great organization, but
they are not high-domed scientists in
themselves. They viii note a blood
stain or appreciate the significance of
a strand of hair, hut they leave the
examination of such things to their
specialists.
A lot of nonsense is talked about
scientific investigation. Scotland Yard
finds science useful as a fighting army
finds it useful. but neither successful
soldiers nor successful detectives are
yet trained in the laboratory.
In fact. it is mixture of natural
and acquired personal qualities with a
highly developed system of disciplined
cooperation that has put Scotland
Yard in the forefront of the detective
bureaus of the world.
1t does happen once in a great
while that the Scotland Yard detective
and the criminal are pitted in a sort
of duel, staged with all the high lights
of melodrama. But that is infrequent.
The detective in most cases gives
proof of his capacity, not by doing
every mortal thing himself, but rather
by intelligent use of the machine.
When Arthur Neil ran down Smith,
the "Brides-in- the Bath" murderer, in.
veStigations had to he made in more
than 40 towns, statements taken from
$50 witnesses and 20 intricate bank
accounts examined. Neil got an i'm
mense amount of deserved credit, but
he could not have handled that case in
the manner of the spectacular, lone
detective of fiction.
There must. of course, he a control.
ling brain in every case. The Yard has
been singularly fortunate, in that it
has always had available men of con.
summate ability and long experience.
These are the men who get to the bot
tom of first-class crimes that are out
of the usual. They are capable of
some intricate feats Of deduction
They have versatility and are not
welded to hard and fast methods.
They will take risks with cold calcula-
tion-not only the physical risks which
are the lot of every police officer, but
more subtle hazards in which only
success can save them from reprimand
or worse. But they get results. Here
shall try to give pictures of some of
these men and those dramatic episodes
in which they have pitted their wits
against the master minds of the under
world.
TRIM, precise, methodical, Chief De-
tective Inspector Henry Marshall
held careful match to his cigar. Not
until he was satisfied that the light
was evenly applied did he lean back
in the big divan chair and regard with
eyes Sir Melville Macnagh- |
ten, the assistant commissioner at the |