Evening star., 1927-11-13
BY GEORGE DILNOT.
oremost Authority on Scotland Yard.

Foremost Authority on Scotland Yard.
TREDERICl< WENSLEY is not n
l. talkative man. lie speaks with
blunt vigor and stops when he
i has finished. And his mind
works i'm something of this di-
rect fashion. He goes straight to the
heart of a matter. He disregards the
non-essentials So completely that /
am inclined to think he does not no.
tice them. SO far as he is concerned,
they do not exist. One bludgeon stroke
and thcy are gone.
Wensley is now the supreme de.
tcctive Of London--the chief con
stable of the Criminal Investigation
Department--hut he has not forgot
ten how to tear his way to the core
Of a problem. The 900 detectives OF
London know that it is with Nens'
ley that they will have TO settle il they
fail too frequently. He has played the
game from the bottom mp and he can
rot be hluffpd His recreation is Grim
jnal hunting He has to eat and
sleep, hut apart from that his whole
mind is forever concentrated on his
job.
Since I first knew him he has
shaved his mustache and long nose
stands out of his lean face like the
baak of some predatory bird. Before
the whole of his official life in the
worst section Of the East End OF Lon
don, ard there he was brought into
contact at close quarters with some
of the toughest and most desperate
crooks in the world. lie learned to
handle them without Kid gloves.
WI en- Wensley was divisional de-
tective inspector Of the II division
he was man marked for high rank
in the service. His closest rival for
promotion was Alfred Ward OF the W
division. which includes big stretch
Of the better class suburbs of Lon
don Had Zeppelin bomb not dropped
on Wards houSe-but that is another
story.
In some ways Ward was complete
contrast to his colleague. He had
round. ruddy face that narrowly
escaped being cheruhic by the addi-
tion of a heavy, dark mustache. lie
looked like a tradeSman. who took
an interest in his local church affairs.
Put behind an equanmity that was
proof against any shock he concealed
~ always fresh professional enthusi-
asm. He could stick to a tangled case
with grim tenacity and bring it to
p conclusion by some bold and daring
coup that robbed it of all touch of
me1odrama. As so often it happens
with the leading Scotland Yard men.
he had an odd way of attracting the
respect of many of those he ran down.
They seemed unable to resist his com
bination of good temper and matter.
offactneSs.
1t was queer that these two men
the ablest in the c. /. D.-should
have been thrown together on one
Of the most singular murder mys-
teries which London has known in
recent times.
A s THE LIGHT dawned one New
Year morning a policeman pa
Filing Chaplain Common came
across the body of man concealed
heneat.l bush. Murder was obvious.
There had been blows on the head
and he had been stabbed three times
In the chest. On each cheek there
were knife marks which roughly re-
senbled the letter s.
Ward was at breakfast when the
news came to him. He abandoned
his coffee and eggs, and n car car
ried him swiftly to the common. The
Scotland Yard machine had already
been set i'm motion and a divisional
surgeon was bending over the body.
Some part of the story was clear
almost at a glance. There were
signs that the body had been dragged
"a q downward from a footpath or
10 wards away. A black silk handker-
G. ief with red stripes was over the