A DETECTIVE’S STORY.
Some years ago it was my fortune to become acquainted with a professional detective. He was not of the elegant sort, whose labors are confined only to the exposure and punishment of crimes of the higher grades, but he was a man who, to use his own language to me one day, was ‘ready for anything.’ He told me several stories of his experience. He did not present documentary evidence of their authenticity, and some of them were rather too much for my belief. Others were plausible enough to be true, and as the man always appeared to have plenty of money, I concluded that he must be an expert at the business. One evening he told me his experience in working up a case of robbery, which I will endeavor to give as nearly as possible in his own words:—
“A dry goods merchant on Broadway had lost a considerable amount of property at various times, but on no one occasion was there a large quantity taken. Of course the clerks in the establishment were suspected, but there was no way of discovering whether they were guilty or not. A close watch had been set on all of them, but nothing could be discovered. I was engaged to work up the case, and to enable me to do so, I was employed in the store as an extra clerk and salesman. It was thought that the foreman and floor walkers might be guilty of the robbery, and therefore they were not taken into the secret. The head of the house explained, however, to the foreman that I was a relative of his wife, and had been thrown upon him to provide for. It was therefore understood that I was not to be required to work very hard, and was to be allowed to go out whenever I asked permission. With this understanding I went to work at my new business. I did not know anything about dry goods, nor about selling them, and consequently they put me upon the commonest articles, which were not in very great demand. This gave me plenty of time for looking around and observing the habits of the clerks.
“I became acquainted with one after another, but made no headway for several weeks in discovering the secret. I accompanied the clerks to their rooms occasionally, and sometimes we were at the theatre together. I knew the salaries that were paid in the establishment, and I knew just how much money each man could afford to spend, and my object was to find out what man among them was living beyond his income. All of them appeared to be quiet, well-behaved young men. Some of them were members of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and others patronized the Mercantile Library, and spent most of their evenings there. Three or four were a little inclined to fast lives, but evidently did not have money enough to carry out their wishes.
“After a time I found out that one, who was the most quiet and unobtrusive of the whole lot, seemed to be living a little beyond his means. Upon him I fixed my suspicion and watched him closely both in the store and out of it.
MAKING FRIENDS.
“He and I became fast friends. We went about the city together; we visited the theatres and beer-gardens, and on Sundays took a trip to Coney Island, where we occasionally spent several dollars in entertaining ourselves and chance acquaintances; but the young man, whom I will call Johnson, was constantly on his guard, and whenever I proposed any new amusement or any additional expense, he always opposed it, and said that he could not afford it, though somehow he generally did afford it before we got through.
“I found he had a sister living in Harlem. Occasionally, but not often, she called at the store. She rarely bought anything, and never remained longer than a few minutes. He visited her every few days, though sometimes a week or two might intervene between his journeys to the place where she lived. Several times, when he was absent and I knew he was to be away for the evening, I visited his room, and searched it carefully; but never a thing could I find to implicate him in the robbery. Not a scrap of silk or lace or anything of the sort could ever be discovered in the room.
“I next managed to be introduced to his sister, and of course I pretended a great liking for her. She was living in a very quiet way, in a boarding-house, and was a teacher, on a small salary, in one of the public schools. Having ascertained her salary, and, calculating her expenses, making an estimate of the value of her clothing as nearly as I could, I was satisfied that she was living somewhat beyond her salary.
SEARCHING A LADY’S ROOM.