Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 176, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1912 — Page 3

The Case Book of a Private Detective

True Narratives of Interesting Cases by a Former Operative of the William J. Burns Detective Agency

THE HOLLISTER JEWEL ROBBERY

The Story of a Mysterious Theft One Monday morning In August, 1910, the Independent Burglary Insurance Company called up the office of the Buras Detective Agency and requested that an operative be sent to their offices at once. K “Cornell,** said the manager to me, “you haven't had any .experience in the burglary insurance line, but I guess you can handle the work. Go over and see what's up. And, say, Cornell, remember this:, this agency is retained by the year by this insurance company. One of our big customers. Treat their work accordingly." I roundtheofficdSofthelndepehdent Company in a Forty-second street building not far from Fifth avenue. On presenting my card I was ushered at once into the private office of the vice president, Mr. Blaney. “Ah! The man from the Buras Agency?" said Mr. Blaney. “Cornell Is the name? Ah, yes; glad they sent you, Mr. Cornell. We’ve heard something of your work. You’ve never handled ah yof our cases, have you?” “Not any,” I said. “Well, fortunately this isn’t a complicated case, or at least we don’t think it is. It’s merely a case of investigation to assure ourselves of the propriety of a policy holder’s claim. A mere matter of form, almost We always investigate all claims for payments, you know. Sometimes we are convinced that something is wrong; then we instruct your agency to find something for us to start a fight on. In this case, It Isn’t anything like that In brief, Col. Malcom P. Hollister’s home up on Long Island sound was by burglars Saturday night and Mrs. Hollister's diamonds and pearls, valued a $75,000, and insured with ns for $50,000, were stolen. There Is scarcely the slightest possibility that there is anything wrong in the case. Col. Hollister is a fine, highminded man, a gentleman of the old school. He has paid this company thousands of dollars in premiums for the last ten years and never presented a claim before this. We are*all of the opinion that we will pay his claim in full, in due time. But —as a matter of form, you understand —we’re sending you down to look the thing over. Be careful, Mr. Cornell, but be careful of our interests as well as the feelings of Col. Hollister and his family. Assure yourself that the burglary was committed, that Mrs. Hollister's jewels were stolen, and report That ta_tiieL.caae.’L_. That was enough, for before I had got through with it the Hollister case had developed into a case so sensational, so full of strange features that the Independent Burglary Insurance Company never dreamed of, that even today it is spoken of in the office of the agency as “The Hollister Job." Being new to the work of investigating burglaries for the insurance company I went about the task in a way considerably different from that employed by the experienced investigator. I did not go to the scene of the robbery. The Hollister home lay up among the hills of Long Island on the sound. I had heard of it as a good example of what taste and moderate wealth —moderate for New York , —could do in making complete a home. I had heard of Col. Hollister, too, in the same indirect way. He' was a retired bond broker, approximately 65 years old. His first wife had' died many years before. Five years ago he had married again, this time taking for his bride Margaret Wynderling, the Margaret Wynderling who for a brief space had won such distinction in Bernard Shaw's plays. There had been some opposition to the match at the time on the part of Mr. Hollister's two grown sons by his first marriage. After the wedding this opposition was said to have simmered down until now report had it that Colonel and Mrs. Hollister were happily at peace with all the world, especially including Hollister's two grown sons. I had seen pictures of both the Colonel and his young wife in the society sections of the papers. The Colonel was an ardent member of the Nassau Hunt Club, and Mrs. Hollister was credited with having developed a great interest in aviation. This served to keep them both in print often enough to make them comparatively well known. Instead of repairing at once to this reputed ideal home of wealth and culture, I went down town. At the end of three hours’ work I entered the offices of the broker with whom Col. Hollister had been associated in business, and who now handled the old gentleman’s investments. I was equipped with letters of introduction. The news of the burglary had not been made public so, after introducing myself as a real estate map whom Col. Hofiister had approached with a view of making extensive investments, I found no trouble in furthering my avowed mission—that of obtaining a confidential opinion on the state of Col. Hollister’s finances. "Tie broker, Glavis by name, pulled his mustache and smiled easily. 6 “O, the Colonel’s all right,” said ho

By DAVID CORNELL.

(Copyright by the Intern attonql Praia Burna.)

with a twinkling of his eye. “He isn't rich, you know, not New York rich, but he’s comfortably fixed, very comfortably fixed now, since he took my advice and handles the family pocketbook himself." He laughed reminiscently, and I chuckled with him. "Yes,” he went on, “the old man had to be advised a little bit some time ago. I advised him. Mrs. Hollister—fine woman, lovely lady, but inexperienced in handling large sums of money, you know —had been given a free swing at the colonel's bank account By Jove! I tell you she tore a hole into it for two or three years. Yes, sir! Nearly had the colonel off his feet. I said to him, 'Colonel, only one thing for you to do. Shut down on Mrs. Hollister. Don’t let her handle a dollar.' ” Otlierwlse‘you’ll be selfing that happy home of yours up on the Sound.’ ” “And he shut down?” I asked. "Yes, yes. Closed down on her tight For about a year she’s had to go to the colonel for every cent she got and, believe me, sir, the colonel has been careful, very careful, indeed. O, yes, the colonel is safe enough financially. Anything up to a million I should say. I thanked my new found friend for his friendliness and confidence, and went further on my way, rummaging around Wall street to flfid all I could about the state of Hollister’s finances. There was little enough to find. Apparently the colonel was sound so far as money was concerned, and Glavis was the only man who knew that there ever had been any financial difficulty between him and his wife. Everywhere that I investigated I found Hollister spoken of in the highest terms. He was a fine, honorable gentleman. Mrs. Hollister wasn’ so well known among the colonel’s friends. In order to make my. investigations thorough I got on a Broadway car and rode up to the theatrical district, to the office of a friend of mine who conducted a booking agency, There I gathered that Mrs. Hollister, formerly Margaret Wynderly, was not as happy with her rich husband as she had expected to be. It seemed that Mrs. Hollister had expensive tastes. The colonel did not approve of, them. At one time, so tho gossip of the Rialto had it, Mrs. Hollister had gone so far as to threaten to go back to the stage to earn money to gratify her whims. All these minute Investigations may seem to the layman to be superfluous in a case like this. What could the Hollister's family affairs have to do with the advent of a burglar in their home? I could not answer this question any better than the reader at the beginning of my search, but successful detective work is largely a matter of watching the small things. It Is the small things that the wrongdoer fails to cover, not the large ones; and it is among these small things that the careful detective will often find the tiny item that puts him on the trail of something big. I had no definite plan in so carefully looking up the Hollister family circumstances, I only knew that it was my duty as an investigator of this case to find out all about them that I could. I ran down all the information I could scare up in New York; then, next morning, I bought a ticket to the station on the Long Island Road, where the Hollister home was located. I arrived at the stetlon, Soundhurst, near noon and registered at the little'hotel in the village. The clerk at the hotel dined at my table and I led him to talk about, the Hollister family. I was surprised to find that even there the news of the burglary had not become known, and the clerk did not hesitate in discussing the people who lived in the big house on the Sound.

■' “I’ve got a cousin who takes care of their launches atad boats,” said he, “and I know about all that’s going on up there. And let me tell you, mister, those rich folks don’t have so much smoother sailing than us poor ones. No sir, they have their rows just like we do. Why, here two months ago this spring, Mrs. Hollister had some of her old theatrical friend i out for a visit, and they were raising Ned out in one of the big launches, and Old Hollister came running out in a smaller launch and ordered the whole lot of ’em back to shore. They had a merry old row that night, him and her, and she was going to leave him, and then he cooled down, and at last she agreed to stay. I guess he must have given in to her because she’s had that bunch ofshow people out every Saturday since. And believe me, they have some timfes, then. One of them is her brother. A young fellow; great sport After the rest "f ’em have gone to bed at night he comes down here and has a few drinks with the bunch in the bar here. Great little fellow.” After dinner I went out an 1 strolled down to the nearest telepnone office and called up my friend In the booking office in New York. "Do you know anything about Mrs. Hollister’s brother, a little fellow with sporting tendencies?" I asked. “Yes, I know of him,” came the slow

answer. "He’s a little no-good. Trios to be an actor sometimes, and a press, agent occasionally, and falls down on both jobs.” ' . - “What does, he live on?” "Search me. He always has money, though. I’ve heard that old Hollister sort of takes care of him. Don’t believe it, though. The boy is a cheap, bright-light sport" t ' I went back to the hotel and sat around and smoked for awhile until the clerk again fell into conversation with me. I led the talk back to the Holllsters. “Was that bunch of theatrical people up there last Saturday night?” I asked. “Sure thing,” was the reply. - "Was the brother with them?" “O, yes. But I didn’t see him drinking around here that time.” I bought the clerk a cigar and strolled away toward the Hollister home. / Instead of going at once to the house I walked twice around the place sizing it up as if I were a burglar looking for a place to enter. One could hardly imagine a harder prospect from the burglar’s point of view. The house was upon a bluff overlooking the Sound. All around it ran a red brick wall 12 feet high. On top of the wall were long iron spikes. On the side fronting toward the Sound was the dodge of the boatman; in the opposite corner of the grounds was a small Mvlhg house, evidently the home of the gardener, while in another corner were the stables and garage, with living quarters for coachman and chauffeur. To enter that house a burglar would have to scale the wall, risk detection from one of the three outlying houses, cross a long open space, and break into a house which obviously was well protected with safeguards. The' more I looked at the house the more I became interested. If a burglar had entered and stolen those jewels he must be a man whom it would be an interesting task to run down. But had a burglar entered? Were there any burglars out of prison just then who would venture such a task? I ran over the list of two-story men

whom I knew to be at liberty then. None of them seemed of a class to perform a job like this. There was one man whom the job fitted —Peters, the gentleman burglar—but Peters was in the Federal prison at Leavenworth and so was eliminated. I spent a long hour studying the house in this fashion; then I went back to the hotel and called up the agency to report for the day. Chief Burns himself answereu my call. “Say, Cornell,” he said, “Hollister has been ’phoning the insurance company asking why they don’t send out Wn investigator to look up his claim. What’s the matter?" As briefly and succinctly as I could I related all that I have here told. "The thing doesn’t look right from the outside,” said L "That’s why I I’m not reporting at the Hollister house.” ... The chief was silent for a moment. "Are you sure her brother was out there Saturday?” he asked. “That’s the information I got here,” I replied. “Well,” said he, “you go up to the house and report, and make your investigation. Come back to your hotel for the evening. And for heaven’s sake, don't do anything to make them

think you may not believe things are all right” He rang off. At the Hollister house I was ushered at once in to CoL Hollister on informing the butler of my mission. “Rather late in getting here,” said the colonel. He was an old man, and he was not happy, judging by his expression. He called Mrs. Hollister. She was a young, charming woman, yet somehow I could not get rid of the impression that she was still—there in Iter own home—playing a part Together they took me over the scene of the robbery. Mrs. Hollister had been accustomed to keeping her jewels in her dressing table in her room. The room was on the second floor. Saturday night, while they were having an informal little dinner downstairs, the Window of the room had been opened, the jewel drawer had been forced and the jewels taken. “A plain case of robbery by someone who had studied the premises for a long time,” said the colonel. I asked a score of questions to throw them off the scent, and in the meantime I took a careful look at that window. It was 30 feet from the ground, in a flat wall. I looked at the marks on the frame; and then I nearly whistled in surprise. The marks were made by some clumsy round instrument not at all resembling the efficient jimmy of the experienced burglar. «An amateur's job,” said I to myself. I looked more closely, and saw that the window never had been forced open at all. It had been left unlocked! The marks had been put in for a blind, or I was no judge. To force open such windows as were in the Hollister house requires considerable leverage; and the marks of the tool used are sure to sink deep into the wood. In this case, the surface of the frame was only bruised—scarcely dented at all. The windows were not locked when the burglar came to do his work! Whoever had done the job had done it from the inside, The window had no part in it. I thanked the Holllsters for their courtesy, excused myself because it was growing late, and said it would

be necessary for me to pay another short visit to the house in the morning. « , "I see that the man who did this job is an old experienced hand,” I said, as I took my departure. “The signs of an old-timer's work are all over the job. I’m afraid we’ll have a hard time recovering your jewels, Mrs. Hollister, if we ever do." As I said this I watched her closely and I thought that a slight look of relief seemed to flicker in her eyes; but instantly she began to lament. “O, I hope you do recover them I never, never will be able to And such perfect stones in another set" But all the time the Impression was with me that this woman still was playing a part, still was acting. At the hotel I entered my room and stopped short in surprise to see Mr. Burns sitting in my chair. “Shut the door,” he said. “Well, what did you find at the house?” I told him. I was rather proud of my work. He smiled. “Cornell,” sgid he, "I picked you out for this' case because I know you’ve got patience for digging up details, and you’ve certainly made good. I want to ten you, however, that when this case came in I had a hunch that

we'd find something queer it” “Why?” I asked. "Because,” said hi, "Mrs. Hollister’s brother’s reputation is no secret to me. And Mrs. Hollister's affection for him is known to be almost like a mother’s.” - • We sat still and looked at each other for several long, silent seconds. The Chief waited for me to speak. "Chief,” I cried, “we’d better find this brother right away.” He burst out into his hearty laugh. “Right Cornell,” he said. “But don’t worry. I've had the whole office combing Manhattan Island for him ever since you telephoned in what you had found. If we don't find him soon the chase may be a long one. "Why?” I asked. "Because—unless we’re all fools at reading the signs—that boy knows something about who got Mrs. Hollister’s jewels, and if he does I’m afraid he wouldn’t be disposed to stay on this side of the water any longer than he can help.” “Why?” I asked again. "The Hollister jewels are too well known on this side to be sold here. And the brother, if he is in on this,will want to be in at the sale. Fortunately, you saw the light in a hurry and reported at once. I immediately got Into communication with every ocean steamship line and told them to keep an eye open. Hollister hardly can get out of this country unless he’s already left the city to take boat at some other port.” While we were sitting thus a telephone call came for the chief. It was from Slavin, one of our men in this city. “Hollister is under shadow,” was Slavin’s report. “He's just reserved a birth on the Franconia, to sail tomorrow morning. He's sticking close to his room in the Delmont Hotel in the meantime." “Don’t lose sight of him on your life, Slavin," said the chief, and rang off. “That about settles It,” he said, turning to me. “Cornell, call up Mrs. Hollister, get her on the wire, and ask her if she will see you alone. If

she asks why, tell her it’s about her brother.” “But why?” I asked in bewilderment . C The chief smiled quizzically. "Why, because I happen to have a heart and a wife, -Cornell,” he said. “I see now how this thing is going to work out, and—and I want to spare Mrs. Hollister. Darn it, man, women are made queer. We’ll give Mrs. Hollister a chance to—to save her brother." I called up Mrs. Hollister and asked if she would consent to see me alone without her husband’s knowledge. “Why?” she demanded. „"I cannot say over the phone, Mrs. Hollister" I replied. “But—it is about your brother.” There was a silence of several seconds. Then came the answer: “Come to the house at once.” “Good.” said the chief, 'TH go with you.” It was night now, and at the Hollister home we were ushered into the library by a maid. Presently Mrs. Hollister came in alone and closed the door behind her. “What is it?" she cried. “What has happened to my brother?” ;<|g "Don’t be alarmed, Mrs. Hollister," I said. “Nothing has happened to

him, and nothing wifi—untoss you wish it It is all up to you.” "What is it?” she whispered. “O, what is it? Ten me." “Mrs. Hollister," said the chief, “hasn't your brother been pressing you to give him large sums of money lately?” Her eyes ran from one to the other of us, seeking to read what We knew. She wasn’t acting now, and I felt sorry for her. "How do you know that?” she asked. “Isn’t it a fact,” continued the chief, “that Colonel Hollister refused to give you any more money to give your brother?" She sank into a chair and sat staring at us in terror. “Mrs. Hollister,” said I as gently as I could, “when you saw me looking at that window didn’t you see that I knew just as well as you did that no burglar ever had forced his way in there?" She was dumb with terror; she strove to speak but the words would not come. “And don’t you know that my suspicions naturally pointed to your brother? And just now we’ve learned that he’s booked to sail on the Fran* conia in the morning.” “And, Mrs. Hollister," said the chief with a gentleness I never had suspected him of, “we’d have to arrest your brother on suspicion if he afr tempts to sail—knowing what we do.” "What do you want me to do?” she cried suddenly, flinging out her arms. “Don’t hurt that poor boy! What do you want me to do?" I looked at the chief. 'Mrs. HoUister,” said he, “we are only engaged to investigate this case for the Independent Burglary Insurance Company. Our duty at present merely Istoreport that we do not advise the payment of your claim without further investigation. Then we instructed to continue our Investigation at once. Which means that our duty would force us to take your brother into custody.” She thought it over for a few minutes. Then she went into the hall and called for her wraps and the big touring car. “Where are you going madame.” asked the maid. “I’ve got to run in to the Delmont Hotel,” said Mrs. Hollister calmly, "I have an appointment there for this evening.” Late that night Col. HolUster caUed up Mr. Blaney of the Independent Burglary Insurance Company. “I say, Blaney,” said he, “drop that claim we presented for Mrs. Hollister’s jewels. T >uokiest thing in the world just happened. Mrs. Hollister’s brother just came out to the house and took a walk down by the beach and found the jewel case with the stones all in It lying under a bunch of sand grass. Yes, yes; found them—all of them—yes; the burglars must have dropped them in making their escape—Yes; probably escaped in a motor boat up the sound. —Yes. Smart boy, that Mrs. Hollister's brother, Blaney. I’m going to do something handsome for him. —Yes; drop the claim completely. The jewels are back here safe in the house, and that’s all we care for. Good night, Blaney, good night.” A few days later the news of tho attempted burglary of the HolUster home leaked'out; Afid the made a great ado over the finding of the stolen jewels. But I wonder what they would have done had they known at the time that what I have told here is the real story of how the Hollister jewels did hot disappear.

LIKE MESSAGE FROM DEAD

Photograph* of Fez Massacre Victim* Are Found After Their Death. Like a message from the grave hare arrived at the office of L’lllustration In. Paris some photographs taken just a few days before the massacre at Fez, in which the photographer himself, Jean Bringau, and his young and charming wife, met their deaths, together with other members of the French colony. On the day following the signing of the treaty acknowledging the protectorate by France the sultan invited to his palace several French officials and their wives. Mulai Hafld was in excellent humor, and was particularly attentive to Mme. and Mlle. Regnault, Mme. Jacques Dnmersnll, wife of the deputy for Seine-et-Marne, and Mme. Max Choublier. M. Bringau was also present, and the sultan insisted that he photograph the party. Mulai Hafld also operated the camera himself and took several pictures. A few days later while M. and Mme. Bringau were breakfasting with some friends the revolt of the Shereefan troops began,, and the crazed soldier* started their bloody work. The plate* of L’lllustration's picture* were found In the ruins of M. Brlngau’s dining room, and were later developed in Paris.

Particular.

Two young sports met on Euclid avenue Tuesday morning. One was a mushy person who had all the money he wanted; the other was a hardened chap who wanted more money than he had. Said the first: "I hear your uncle is seriously ill, old boy.” "I’m afraid he is,” was the answer. “Don’t be a bally hypocrite. Yon don’t lore him, do you?" "No.” “And you’re his only relative?" "Yes.” “Then why pretend you're not glad?” “You darned fool! Eve got two uncles—end the poor one is the one who Is not expected to recover!"—