"What did I see upon that Carpet Bag, if you"ll believe me, but a green parrot on a stand, as large as life!
""That Carpet Bag, with the representation of a green parrot on a stand," said I, "belongs to an English Jew, named Aaron Mesheck, and to no other man, alive or dead!"
"I give you my word the New York Police Officers were doubled up with surprise.
""How did you ever come to know that?" said they.
""I think I ought to know that green parrot by this time," said I; "for I have had as pretty a dance after that bird, at home, as ever I had, in all my life!""
"And was it Mesheck"s?" we submissively inquired.
"Was it, sir? Of course it was! He was in custody for another offence, in that very identical Tombs, at that very identical time.
And, more than that! Some memoranda, relating to the fraud for which I had vainly endeavoured to take him, were found to be, at that moment, lying in that very same individual - Carpet Bag!"
Such are the curious coincidences and such is the peculiar ability, always sharpening and being improved by practice, and always adapting itself to every variety of circ.u.mstances, and opposing itself to every new device that perverted ingenuity can invent, for which this important social branch of the public service is remarkable! For ever on the watch, with their wits stretched to the utmost, these officers have, from day to day and year to year, to set themselves against every novelty of trickery and dexterity that the combined imaginations of all the lawless rascals in England can devise, and to keep pace with every such invention that comes out. In the Courts of Justice, the materials of thousands of such stories as we have narrated - often elevated into the marvellous and romantic, by the circ.u.mstances of the case - are dryly compressed into the set phrase, "in consequence of information I received, I did so and so." Suspicion was to be directed, by careful inference and deduction, upon the right person; the right person was to be taken, wherever he had gone, or whatever he was doing to avoid detection: he is taken; there he is at the bar; that is enough. From information I, the officer, received, I did it; and, according to the custom in these cases, I say no more.
These games of chess, played with live pieces, are played before small audiences, and are chronicled nowhere. The interest of the game supports the player. Its results are enough for justice. To compare great things with small, suppose LEVERRIER or ADAMS informing the public that from information he had received he had discovered a new planet; or COLUMBUS informing the public of his day that from information he had received he had discovered a new continent; so the Detectives inform it that they have discovered a new fraud or an old offender, and the process is unknown.
Thus, at midnight, closed the proceedings of our curious and interesting party. But one other circ.u.mstance finally wound up the evening, after our Detective guests had left us. One of the sharpest among them, and the officer best acquainted with the Swell Mob, had his pocket picked, going home!
THREE "DETECTIVE" ANECDOTES
I. - THE PAIR OF GLOVES
"IT"S a singler story, sir," said Inspector Wield, of the Detective Police, who, in company with Sergeants Dornton and Mith, paid us another twilight visit, one July evening; "and I"ve been thinking you might like to know it.
"It"s concerning the murder of the young woman, Eliza Grimwood, some years ago, over in the Waterloo Road. She was commonly called The Countess, because of her handsome appearance and her proud way of carrying of herself; and when I saw the poor Countess (I had known her well to speak to), lying dead, with her throat cut, on the floor of her bedroom, you"ll believe me that a variety of reflections calculated to make a man rather low in his spirits, came into my head.
"That"s neither here nor there. I went to the house the morning after the murder, and examined the body, and made a general observation of the bedroom where it was. Turning down the pillow of the bed with my hand, I found, underneath it, a pair of gloves.
A pair of gentleman"s dress gloves, very dirty; and inside the lining, the letters TR, and a cross.
"Well, sir, I took them gloves away, and I showed "em to the magistrate, over at Union Hall, before whom the case was. He says, "Wield," he says, "there"s no doubt this is a discovery that may lead to something very important; and what you have got to do, Wield, is, to find out the owner of these gloves."
"I was of the same opinion, of course, and I went at it immediately. I looked at the gloves pretty narrowly, and it was my opinion that they had been cleaned. There was a smell of sulphur and rosin about "em, you know, which cleaned gloves usually have, more or less. I took "em over to a friend of mine at Kennington, who was in that line, and I put it to him. "What do you say now?
Have these gloves been cleaned?" "These gloves have been cleaned,"
says he. "Have you any idea who cleaned them?" says I. "Not at all," says he; "I"ve a very distinct idea who DIDN"T clean "em, and that"s myself. But I"ll tell you what, Wield, there ain"t above eight or nine reg"lar glove-cleaners in London," - there were not, at that time, it seems - "and I think I can give you their addresses, and you may find out, by that means, who did clean "em."
Accordingly, he gave me the directions, and I went here, and I went there, and I looked up this man, and I looked up that man; but, though they all agreed that the gloves had been cleaned, I couldn"t find the man, woman, or child, that had cleaned that aforesaid pair of gloves.
"What with this person not being at home, and that person being expected home in the afternoon, and so forth, the inquiry took me three days. On the evening of the third day, coming over Waterloo Bridge from the Surrey side of the river, quite beat, and very much vexed and disappointed, I thought I"d have a shilling"s worth of entertainment at the Lyceum Theatre to freshen myself up. So I went into the Pit, at half-price, and I sat myself down next to a very quiet, modest sort of young man. Seeing I was a stranger (which I thought it just as well to appear to be) he told me the names of the actors on the stage, and we got into conversation.
When the play was over, we came out together, and I said, "We"ve been very companionable and agreeable, and perhaps you wouldn"t object to a drain?" "Well, you"re very good," says he; "I SHOULDN"T object to a drain." Accordingly, we went to a public- house, near the Theatre, sat ourselves down in a quiet room up- stairs on the first floor, and called for a pint of half-and-half, apiece, and a pipe.
"Well, sir, we put our pipes aboard, and we drank our half-and- half, and sat a-talking, very sociably, when the young man says, "You must excuse me stopping very long," he says, "because I"m forced to go home in good time. I must be at work all night." "At work all night?" says I. "You ain"t a baker?" "No," he says, laughing, "I ain"t a baker." "I thought not," says I, "you haven"t the looks of a baker." "No," says he, "I"m a glove-cleaner."
"I never was more astonished in my life, than when I heard them words come out of his lips. "You"re a glove-cleaner, are you?"
says I. "Yes," he says, "I am." "Then, perhaps," says I, taking the gloves out of my pocket, "you can tell me who cleaned this pair of gloves? It"s a rum story," I says. "I was dining over at Lambeth, the other day, at a free-and-easy - quite promiscuous - with a public company - when some gentleman, he left these gloves behind him! Another gentleman and me, you see, we laid a wager of a sovereign, that I wouldn"t find out who they belonged to. I"ve spent as much as seven shillings already, in trying to discover; but, if you could help me, I"d stand another seven and welcome.
You see there"s TR and a cross, inside." "I see," he says. "Bless you, I know these gloves very well! I"ve seen dozens of pairs belonging to the same party." "No?" says I. "Yes," says he.
"Then you know who cleaned "em?" says I. "Rather so," says he.
"My father cleaned "em."
""Where does your father live?" says I. "Just round the corner,"
says the young man, "near Exeter Street, here. He"ll tell you who they belong to, directly." "Would you come round with me now?"
says I. "Certainly," says he, "but you needn"t tell my father that you found me at the play, you know, because he mightn"t like it."
"All right!" We went round to the place, and there we found an old man in a white ap.r.o.n, with two or three daughters, all rubbing and cleaning away at lots of gloves, in a front parlour. "Oh, Father!"
says the young man, "here"s a person been and made a bet about the ownership of a pair of gloves, and I"ve told him you can settle it." "Good evening, sir," says I to the old gentleman. "Here"s the gloves your son speaks of. Letters TR, you see, and a cross."
"Oh yes," he says, "I know these gloves very well; I"ve cleaned dozens of pairs of "em. They belong to Mr. Trinkle, the great upholsterer in Cheapside." "Did you get "em from Mr. Trinkle, direct," says I, "if you"ll excuse my asking the question?" "No,"
says he; "Mr. Trinkle always sends "em to Mr. Phibbs"s, the haberdasher"s, opposite his shop, and the haberdasher sends "em to me." "Perhaps YOU wouldn"t object to a drain?" says I. "Not in the least!" says he. So I took the old gentleman out, and had a little more talk with him and his son, over a gla.s.s, and we parted excellent friends.
"This was late on a Sat.u.r.day night. First thing on the Monday morning, I went to the haberdasher"s shop, opposite Mr. Trinkle"s, the great upholsterer"s in Cheapside. "Mr. Phibbs in the way?"
"My name is Phibbs." "Oh! I believe you sent this pair of gloves to be cleaned?" "Yes, I did, for young Mr. Trinkle over the way.
There he is in the shop!" "Oh! that"s him in the shop, is it? Him in the green coat?" "The same individual." "Well, Mr. Phibbs, this is an unpleasant affair; but the fact is, I am Inspector Wield of the Detective Police, and I found these gloves under the pillow of the young woman that was murdered the other day, over in the Waterloo Road!" "Good Heaven!" says he. "He"s a most respectable young man, and if his father was to hear of it, it would be the ruin of him!" "I"m very sorry for it," says I, "but I must take him into custody." "Good Heaven!" says Mr. Phibbs, again; "can nothing be done?" "Nothing," says I. "Will you allow me to call him over here," says he, "that his father may not see it done?" "I don"t object to that," says I; "but unfortunately, Mr. Phibbs, I can"t allow of any communication between you. If any was attempted, I should have to interfere directly. Perhaps you"ll beckon him over here?" Mr. Phibbs went to the door and beckoned, and the young fellow came across the street directly; a smart, brisk young fellow.
""Good morning, sir," says I. "Good morning, sir," says he.
"Would you allow me to inquire, sir," says I, "if you ever had any acquaintance with a party of the name of Grimwood?" "Grimwood!
Grimwood!" says he. "No!" "You know the Waterloo Road?" "Oh! of course I know the Waterloo Road!" "Happen to have heard of a young woman being murdered there?" "Yes, I read it in the paper, and very sorry I was to read it." "Here"s a pair of gloves belonging to you, that I found under her pillow the morning afterwards!"
"He was in a dreadful state, sir; a dreadful state I "Mr. Wield,"
he says, "upon my solemn oath I never was there. I never so much as saw her, to my knowledge, in my life!" "I am very sorry," says I. "To tell you the truth; I don"t think you ARE the murderer, but I must take you to Union Hall in a cab. However, I think it"s a case of that sort, that, at present, at all events, the magistrate will hear it in private."
"A private examination took place, and then it came out that this young man was acquainted with a cousin of the unfortunate Eliza Grimwood, and that, calling to see this cousin a day or two before the murder, he left these gloves upon the table. Who should come in, shortly afterwards, but Eliza Grimwood! "Whose gloves are these?" she says, taking "em up. "Those are Mr. Trinkle"s gloves,"
says her cousin. "Oh!" says she, "they are very dirty, and of no use to him, I am sure. I shall take "em away for my girl to clean the stoves with." And she put "em in her pocket. The girl had used "em to clean the stoves, and, I have no doubt, had left "em lying on the bedroom mantelpiece, or on the drawers, or somewhere; and her mistress, looking round to see that the room was tidy, had caught "em up and put "em under the pillow where I found "em.
That"s the story, sir."
II. - THE ARTFUL TOUCH
"One of the most BEAUTIFUL things that ever was done, perhaps,"
said Inspector Wield, emphasising the adjective, as preparing us to expect dexterity or ingenuity rather than strong interest, "was a move of Sergeant Witchem"s. It was a lovely idea!
"Witchem and me were down at Epsom one Derby Day, waiting at the station for the Swell Mob. As I mentioned, when we were talking about these things before, we are ready at the station when there"s races, or an Agricultural Show, or a Chancellor sworn in for an university, or Jenny Lind, or anything of that sort; and as the Swell Mob come down, we send "em back again by the next train. But some of the Swell Mob, on the occasion of this Derby that I refer to, so far kidded us as to hire a horse and shay; start away from London by Whitechapel, and miles round; come into Epsom from the opposite direction; and go to work, right and left, on the course, while we were waiting for "em at the Rail. That, however, ain"t the point of what I"m going to tell you.
"While Witchem and me were waiting at the station, there comes up one Mr. Tatt; a gentleman formerly in the public line, quite an amateur Detective in his way, and very much respected. "Halloa, Charley Wield," he says. "What are you doing here? On the look out for some of your old friends?" "Yes, the old move, Mr. Tatt."
"Come along," he says, "you and Witchem, and have a gla.s.s of sherry." "We can"t stir from the place," says I, "till the next train comes in; but after that, we will with pleasure." Mr. Tatt waits, and the train comes in, and then Witchem and me go off with him to the Hotel. Mr. Tatt he"s got up quite regardless of expense, for the occasion; and in his shirt-front there"s a beautiful diamond prop, cost him fifteen or twenty pound - a very handsome pin indeed. We drink our sherry at the bar, and have had our three or four gla.s.ses, when Witchem cries suddenly, "Look out, Mr. Wield! stand fast!" and a dash is made into the place by the Swell Mob - four of "em - that have come down as I tell you, and in a moment Mr. Tatt"s prop is gone! Witchem, he cuts "em off at the door, I lay about me as hard as I can, Mr. Tatt shows fight like a good "un, and there we are, all down together, heads and heels, knocking about on the floor of the bar - perhaps you never see such a scene of confusion! However, we stick to our men (Mr. Tatt being as good as any officer), and we take "em all, and carry "em off to the station." The station"s full of people, who have been took on the course; and it"s a precious piece of work to get "em secured.
However, we do it at last, and we search "em; but nothing"s found upon "em, and they"re locked up; and a pretty state of heat we are in by that time, I a.s.sure you!
"I was very blank over it, myself, to think that the prop had been pa.s.sed away; and I said to Witchem, when we had set "em to rights, and were cooling ourselves along with Mr. Tatt, "we don"t take much by THIS move, anyway, for nothing"s found upon "em, and it"s only the braggadocia, (2) after all." "What do you mean, Mr. Wield?"
says Witchem. "Here"s the diamond pin!" and in the palm of his hand there it was, safe and sound! "Why, in the name of wonder,"
says me and Mr. Tatt, in astonishment, "how did you come by that?"
"I"ll tell you how I come by it," says he. "I saw which of "em took it; and when we were all down on the floor together, knocking about, I just gave him a little touch on the back of his hand, as I knew his pal would; and he thought it WAS his pal; and gave it me!"
It was beautiful, beau-ti-ful!