Story of Scotland Yard illustrated World Landmark Books Series

Sixth Printing All rights rcse.vedurdcr Interrationalard Par-Anericar Copyrisll Conventio^s Library of CongressCltalog Card Nmber: 51-7007 DeweyDecimalClassincrdon:352or 352.2 Manufaciur.din tle U. S. A.

Contenfs INTRODUCTION

by Tormer Detectipe Supt. Robert Tabian, vlr l. e Nose ron cRttrtr, 1 2. scortaND yARD'sF-IRST oerrcttvr,

4

3. nuNrueRS ANDReELeRs,16 4. rHr MAN rN nluu, 28 5. rnr

BRArNat wonr, 34

6. cRturxat nnconos, 41 7. prpry yEARSoF FrNGERRnrNrs, 52 8. cRtur ANDTHE catraeRa,64 9. cnwrrNALSuNDERTHE MrcRoscope,6g f 0. rHe cLuE oF THE cHrp oF elttNr, TT I l. cRttnlIwALINVESTIGATIoN DEpARTMEttt,83 12. rHE MAN FRoM rHe veno, 94 13. rnecrrNc THE FRAuDSMAI.I, 10i 14. rHn FLyTNGsquan, 108 1 5 . r H r s p E C r A Lr n a u c n , 1 1 6 16. "DIAL 999," 120 | 7. rHe RrvERRor-rce,132 1 8 . u o n s r s A N Dn o c s , 1 3 8

19. er rHE scENEoF THE cntue, 145 20. rNQurRrES BY THE YARD,153 2I. cnrur REPoRTERS , 760

22. nourrxgwonr, 166 rxoux,173

Introduction by FormerDetectiveSupt.RoberlFsbion Have

you

EVER $ToNDEREDvHAT

rrENT oN AT

New ScotlandYard? If you haven't,you rvill surely have been thrilled by newspaperheadlines-"ScoilandVard TJasBeen Called |n"-and wonderedhow it was possiblefor them to solveso many bafflingproblems. Having servedfor twenty-eightyearsand ftve days in the Metropolitan Police-trained at Peel House and the Detective School at Hendon; worked the beats of the old Vine Street Police Station; carried out the dutiesof a detectivein CentralOffice,C.R.O., "8" , "C" , "D" and t'M" Divisions-and havingbeen Chief Inspectorin charge of the Flying Squad in addition to having been calledin on numerousoccasions by the Chief Constablesof Provincial Police Forcesto assistin the investigationof a murder or other seriouscrime, I am able to tell you that here is a book which is a pleasureto read, becausethe descriptionsof the various departmentsat Scotland Yard and their functionsare correct. It has beensaid that: "\iThenevera criminal commits a crime, Providenceftnds a witness." Far be it from me to disagreewith a well-known quotation.I was only thinking of the times I had to Ytl

Yiii

Introduction

searchfor and ftnd thosewitnesses ! The chapterson the Criminal RecordOffice, the Finger Print Bureau andtheLaboratorytell you howthesearesooftenfound. As you will seewhen you read this book, the detectivehas at his disposalthe assistance of the most learnedmen and womenof the land. In the caseof a murder or suspiciousdeath,what actually happensis that he appealsto the pathologist. . . "Tell mer" he says,"what were the causes of death?" "How long has the victim been dead?" "'Do you think that the crime was committedhere, or has the body been moved?" "What type of instrumentdo you think was the causeof death?" In the caseof death by poisoningthe analystwill be appealedto. "What poison was used?" "How long before death was it administered?" To the fingerprintexperthe turns to know whether the impressions left at the sceneof a crime are those of the victim or the criminal. If the latter, "ls he known?" If "Yes," then further inquiry is made at the Criminal RecordOfficefuherethe officeris asked: "What is he like?" "\7hat is his or her description?" "Is there anything outstandingabout him?" The officer having been supplied with these details will inquire, "Tell me where he may be found, who are his associates?" If no fingerprintsare found, "Can C.R.O. tell me, on the facts so far, who may have committedthe crime?" To the officerin chargeof telephonesand wireless

Inlroduction

ix

the officer looks for speedyand accuratecirculation of the factshe wishesto release.Perhapsthe messages have to be flashedto all sea- and airports to warn SpecialBranch Officers (who are also membersof the C.I.D.) to keep watch for a suspectlikely to leavethe country. To the Scientiftcand Medical Specialist:"Here is somearticlebelongingto the victim or assailant/some hairs or ftbersfound adheringto the victim"; or perhaps, "some instrumentwith which the crime may havebeencommitted."The officerasks:"ls it blood; if so, is it human or animah" If the former, "ls it the blood of the victim? If not, perhapsthe suspect's? Are the hairsand fibersanimalor human?" The instrument is then taken to the photographic section."Can you get some good pictures showing...?" Yes, there is no doubt that a detective'slife is full of interest.No man's work is more varied or full of the unexpected.He goesinto the homesof the highest and the lowest. He meets dukes and dustmen, bishopsand pickpockets.He must be a good mixer and able to hold his own in any company.He must accumulateknowledge about all sorts of obscure things: banking, bookkeepingand companylaw for casesof fraud; anatomy,pathology and toxicology for casesof murder and the like; but most important of all, he must gain a deep knowledgeof human nature. I am sure no more fascinatinglife can be offered to anv man.

x

Inlroduction

Finally, I would add, while commentingon the qualiftcationsof a detectiveofficer, the elementof luck. I mean/you might go down one streetand see nothing. If you go down the next street,you might fall over the best job in your service.\il/hat you have to do, of course,is to decidewhich is the best street to go down! Detectivesin real life are so different from the detectivesof ffction-sherlock Holmes, Dick Barton, etc. They marry and have families,but they have to be 'imarriedto their job." The detectivehas no regular hours, and can never say: "\(/ell, thank goodness,I've ftnishedfor the d"y," becausehe knows by the time he has reachedhis home a message may be alreadywaiting for him-"Please attendthe office at once, re the caseof-." Somethinghas developed, and back he goesto take up a previousinquiry about which someurgent informationhas been received. The chaptersin this book which deal with the training of officersso took my mind back to the time I joined the police, that I thought it might be interesting to you to know exactly the stepsone passes through to becomea seniordetective. In early 1921 I appliedto the Candidates'Branch at ScotlandYard for the necessaryform of application to join the Metropolitan Police. I ftlled up the form and took it to the local police station. Here they measuredme and weighedme. I rememberwhat struck me most at my ffrst sight

Intro.duction

xi

of the insideof a policestationwas how differentthe men looked without their helmetson-they became individualsinsteadof impassive armsof the law. There was also that indeffnablepolice station smell, which even after 28 years I never can place properly-a mixture of scrubbing soap/ disinfectantand typewriter ribbons. On instruction, I attended the Recruiting Branch and passedthe medicaland educationalexaminations. The medical was stiff, the educationalsimple. On May 17tht 7927, I was finally "called up." At Peel Housewe weresoonshakenup and allotteda cubicle. Eight weeks of raining followed-Police Duty, First Aid, Foot Drill, Self-defence, etc. Then came examinations,and on July l|th, 1921, we went to ScotlandYard, where the Stores Sergeantfitted us out with two of everything.I was then posted to Vine Street Police Station as Police Constable118, "C" Division. In thosedays we were postednight duty and put in chargeof an experienced P.C. to show us round, to point out the boundariesof the beats, to make sure we noted the ffre alarm posts,addresses of doctors, chemists,public houses,shops, churchesand placesof interest. I rememberbeing quite overwhelmedand wondering whetherI would ever masterthe job. As time went on/ however,I attendedclassesof instruction daily and passedthe three-, six- and twelve-months'examinations;then away to the life

xii

lnlroduction

of a constablewhose appointmenthas been conffrmed. In 1923 I appliedto join the Criminal Investigation Department, and was brought out in plain clothesas "Aid to C.LD." I thought, ,.\7ell, it is now or never," so I patrolled for my allotted hours and very many more as well. I came to know the \il/est End of London like the back of my hand, and what is more I cameto like the job. My ftrst arrest for crime was made one eveningwhen I was really off duty. I was strolling round with a girl friend and noticedtwo young men taking what I consideredwas too much interestin unattendedmotor cars.\il/e followed them, and sure enough,in SloaneStreet,well off my own Division, I saw them steal a rug from a caf.

\ilZell, with more study and examinationsthat I passed,gradually I crept up the ladder until, by July 1st, 1949, I was promotedto DetectiveSuperintendent. I have read most books about Scotlandyard, but haveyet to read a more intimateand correctaccount than this one. It might well have been called ..Behind the Scenesat Scotlandyard.,,

A Nose for Crime ..YOU

GET A NOSE FoR CRIME,,, SAID THE OBSERVER

of Metropolitan Policeradio car 5D meditatively,as we cruisedabout the shadowystreetsbehindthe Edgware Road. Even as he talked, his eyesnever ceased glancingfrom one side of the road to the other, exploring doorways and dark alleys, looking for a window that might be open, or an approachingcar with the numberof one of thosenotedasstolenon the log-sheetbeforehim. And beneathhis voice was the voice of the radio from ScotlandYard: "Hallo, all cars,from M2G\7. MessageNo. 32 from G.A. begins: Green Fordson ftfteen-one fife-hundredweight coveredvan QLA 193-Q for Queenie,L for Lucy, A for Andrew, 193-lost or stolenLatimer Road 2045 /2130 containing30 casesof tinned fruit. Ends.Origin 2135J' Radio car 5D playedher part in that justly famous police hlm, Ibe Blue f,amp. In one year her crews made 368 arrestsand headedthe roll of honor of Metropolitan Police mime cars. She is a 17 h.p. Humber, black and sleekas rain-washedtarmac,and when her driver choosesto acceleratefrom cruising to chasingspeed,you leave your stomachquite a long way behind you. l

2

lhe Story of Scotlqnd Yqrd

"Yes, you get a nosefor crime,"saidthe big policeman again, with his faint Devon burr which he has not lost evenafter 21 yearsin London. "Take a case like this. We got a radio call one night on the car here.Disturbanceat an addressnear PaddingtonStation. That's all we're told. It may be a murder. It may just be somebodywho's had a few drinks, kicking up a fuss outsidea pub. It's our job to get there quickly, and sort it out. "So we go along to this address.It's a big house, dividedinto flats.The landlady'son the groundfloor, and she knows nothing about any disturbance.\We go on upstairs.There's a girl there. She'sbeen having a party with a coupleof fellows,and now they've turned her out. Because of that, she'sphonedfor the police. "\7e11,there'snothing we can do about that one. No one's committedany offence.\We can just quiet her down, and go away. But I think I'd like to have a look inside. No particular reason.I'm inquisitive, that's all. I knock, and ask the tenantif he mindsmy coming in. Two chapsthere. One of them's a little fellow, and when he seesme the blood drains out of his face.'Hallo, chummy,'I think. '\7hat's the matter with you?' I ask some questions.Identity cards. Chummy'slost his. Has he reportedit? Yes, he has, but he doesn'tseemvery sure what police stationhe reported it at. Has he servedwith the forces?No, he was exempt/he's an engineer.\Where?He sayshe works for his dad, in a garage.

A Nosefor Crime

3

"\Zell, they don't exempt that kind of engineer, and anyway I look at his hands and seehe's never done a dirty day's work in his life. So I think it over, and tell chummyI've reasonto believehe's a deserter, and I'm going to take him to the police station.'All right,' he says,'but let me pack a few things to take along with me.' He packshis bag, and by this time I'm so certain there's somethingwrong I telephone Criminal RecordOfficeat the Yard, to ftnd if they've anything on a chap with the name chummy'sgiven me. They haven't,but I take him alongto the station just the sam7 "He tells me his identity card was issuedin York, with such-and-sucha number. I telephoneYork. Right number, wrong name. I ask chummy a few more questions.After a coupleof hours he tells me his name. I phone C.R.O. again-anything known againsthim? 'l should say so,' they tell me. 'He's been a deserterfour years, and we want him for about thirty robberies.He's pinched eight thousand quids' worth of stuff.' And believeit or not, the bag he packedto bring along to the station was full of stuff he'd pinchedonly the night before! "There you are. And yet somepeoplewon't believe you when you say you get a nose for crime." The observerof crimecar 5D is an ordinarypoliceconstable,and he and his like are the reasonwhy London is the best-policed city in the world. He calls it "having a nose for crime," and becausethe police are not givento boasting,he makesit sound as easy

4

The Story of Scotlond yord

as catchingthe 8 :25 train to the officeevery morning. In later chaptersof this book you are going inside ScotlandYard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police.You will seethe crimecars at work, the river patrols, the dogs and horses,the policemenon their beatsand the detectives of the Criminal Investigation Department.You will visit the Information Room from which radio messages go to the policecars,and the Criminal'RecordOffice.You will meetthe whitecoatedscientists in their laboratoryanalyzingthe dust from a safe-breaker's turned-up trousers,the ffngerprint men hanging a murderer with their expert evidence. You will see the whole machinefor the prevention and detectionof crime at work, ruthless,sure and endlesslypersevering.You will ftnd the real thing more fascinatingthan the best detectivefiction ever written. And when you have ftnished,you will be able to say whetheror not you think it is "easy." But we must begin at the beginning,and the beginning is a long time ago.

2 ScotlqndY