In general, he
might just as well send for his mother-in-law. Of course, the
police can and will watch the pawnshops for the missing
baubles, but no crook who is not a fool is going to pawn a
whole necklace on the Bowery the very next day after it has
been "lifted." Or he can enlist a private detective who will
question the servants and perhaps go through their trunks, if
they will let him. Either sort will probably line up the
inmates of the house for general scrutiny and try to bully
them separately into a confession. This may save the master a
disagreeable experience, but it is the simplest sort of police
work and is done vicariously for the taxpayer, just as the
public garbage man relieves you from the burden of taking out
the ashes yourself, because he is paid for it, not on account
of your own incapacity or his superiority.
The real detective is the one who, taking up the solution
of a crime or other mystery, brings to bear upon it unusual
powers of observation and deduction and an exceptional
resourcefulness in acting upon his conclusions.
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