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k Sunday C O. H. Heyneman Pi For Ten Yearn Secretary to Chief Lees HTorjrichr by the Author) A WELL dressed gentleman, nerv ous in manner, walked into police headquarters one dull Saturday afternoon and asked me for the chief. "Your business?" I inquired, politely. "Here's my card." he said, as if that settled the matter, and with some brnsqufne^s apparent in his attitude, as he handed me an extravagantly en graved card which denoted both caste and social prestige. One glance and I realized the impor 'am" of the visitor. The gentleman ••as one of San Francisco's most promt ent bankers. "Tell th» '■■iff It Is urgent," he in structed, forcibly. He need not have emphasized his mes sag--. His name was sufficient guaran tee to admit him Immediately to the private sanctum of the chief. i ush ered him in and left the room. Ten minutes later the buzzer—the usual summons for me— rang In the outer office, i hastened to answer, my notebook and pencil ready for instant use. I appreciated In advance the nerv ous peal of th* buzzer. •■Billy." said the chief, his face and eyes eagf-r and alert, as they always .. 'ere wnenever there was some impor tant matter on hand, "this Is Mr Charles Calvert. I wish you to be very careful In getting down each and every wor d he says from beginning to en(J vVhos outside in the office? Leave or |««t?i for all the detectives to remain until I send for them. I'll need them " I obeyed quickly. Briefly, as the tale went into my note book, the , caller. Mr. Calvert, was presi dent of one of the biggest banking in stitutions In San Francisco. His story was that a man had Introduced himself to the banking officials as A. H. Doan a broker with offices in one of the large downtown buildings. Doan had opened an account with the bank an.l had been sine* doing what appeared to the bank people at the time to be a legitimate, straightforward business. He bad only a email account with them and no es pecial attention was paid to it or to the depositor. There was always a balance in Doan's favor. Calvert de scribed Doan as a man of evident edu cation, extremely well read according to his conversation and a man who ,had traveled extensively. His tastes were fastidious in his habits and dress .He was of average height and build, had a slight drawl in his speech and !the banker distinctly remembered that ills depositor wore a heavy black mus tache and a neatly trimmed Van Dyke -beard. His particular feature was not /hese. however, but his eyes—large, piercing and of a dark brown color. . During the few weeks of Calvert's acquaintance with Doan he had rioted ■ hat the man invariably went about Blone. He had met him on the streets. |n the bank and in the various first class restaurants, but never accom panied by either male or female, poan's business, as Calvert understood *t, was a bona fid^ brokerage office, dealing with stocks, bonds and outside real estate. He did considerable busi ness with a small bank up state. Fre quently checks woul.l be deposited from this little banking concern in the northern part of the state, payable to the order of A. H. Doan. All this naturally appeared thoroughly legiti mate and in accord with banking meth- Ods. I It' Two (Jays previous to the banker's Ififi't to the chief of police. A. H. Doan Mad come to the bank as was his daily custom and presented a check duly Irswii in his favor for $22,000. As <isual It was from the up state bank. • This check waa Instantly paid, no ques tions were asked and the money' was handed out to Doan in currency and twenty dollar gold pieces. , That was two days since. But a telegram had Just reached Calvert an hour ago that the check was a for . gery. A check for *12 had been issued Ito Doan —the check for $22,000, which • had been so readily cashed, had been cleverly raised from the $12 to $22,000 • by some expert criminal in that espe cial line. A big forgery had been com- This, In substance, was Calverfs tale ' of woe. He knew no further details. Of course he had immediately called i at Doan's office, but the call resulted in nothing; he had found the door locked. ', Then he had rt>me directly to police ' headquarters to report the case to '. Chief of Police Lees. i After Calvert had taken his depar- , j'.' ture from the office the chief leaned ' far back In his chair, great clouds of ' smoke rising from his huge black ci - gar. He always smoked ■ the same I brand. His beautiful head of hair, long, snow white, was disheveled; his coarse, large fingers ecratched-and pulled and caressed the curly locks until his hand tired. The old man's huge eyeglasses, us usual, -were tilted half way on his nose, his brow contracted, hit eyes half .closed, as he watched the wreaths of smoke clouds drift away In the air. ! Ills mind, I instinctively knew, was busy working to disentangle the mys a teries of some past his recollection held, some other parallel case, that would bring to him a definite clew to work upon. <$} - Suddenly he looked at me and bade •'>« me read aloud the statement of Cai i vert that I had just recorded. I read the description of Doan - particularly, "I at his order; again and again he would have me read all r had ken down rel ; a i\e to the broker's* features and per- Rsonality. 1"/ ".- Ti;«n the old master sat quietly thinking for some space of time. "Send In'all.the menln the outer of fice I'll pic-;-, out those 'hat I want," >!>■ irdered then In no gentle voice. The machinery of the police<depart; > iinent Avaa set.ln immediate motion. When Lees Was Chief of Detectives VI- HOW HE LANDED THE PERPETRATORJ 1 of { CALIFORNIA^ MCWT I FAMOUJ 1 FORGERY?—^ > f). Lees chose three of his trusted men, those in whom he always; placed the most reliance. men who had had the, banking detail for years and who, from long- experience, knew most of the crooks, forgers and hank thieves who Infested the hanking district. - This was indeed a hi? forgery case. The checking system In the banks had become so systematized that this was the largest amount that any *ank had been victimized of in many years. There were always small cases of forgery, but the passing of a check for a trivia! amount was of too common occurrencf for any undue excitement. . and the small crook was as a rule easily ar rerted and convicted. But here was a case where a check issued had been deliberately and felo niously raised from $12 to $22,000. Only an expert forger, a long experienced crook with the fine fingers of the genu ine artist, could successfully raise a paper so shrewdly and so perfectly as to hoodwink the keen eyes of an-ex perienced cashier. Th* chief ordered his men to visit thp victimized bank and procure all th» Information possible.. He directed them to interview all the employes of th» bank with whom Doan had transacted business- Two of the detectives were ordered to report to the chief at 7 o'clock that evening wltn such In formation an they should glean., "The* chief sent one detective at once to the little bank up in the northern part of the state. He pave this man positive instructions to wire unceasingly if nec essary every particle of Information, every clew," every discovery bearing on the matter that came within his power. The men ■ listened to and digested their respective details. "Come on. Billy/ gruffly mumbled the chief, disregarding such a minor, matter as grammar, "you and me are going to get busy. too. ._ "Telegraph- the Psnkertons at once— l owe them this as a courtesy—they rep resent the American bankers' associa tion. 1 Give them all particulars. We'll need them, perhaps, on the eastern side of the states. The birds have had ample time to fly since Thursday," mumbted the chief, half to himself and half to me. He started for his overcoat: his hat wa3 already tilted far back on his frowzled head. I wired the Finkertons as dlrefcted, and we left the office. We went directly to Doan's office in one of the large buildings in the heart of the business district. The chief in terviewed the superintendent of the building without muoh result. All the Information extracted was that Doan had been a tenant of the building for about a /month; "that he had paid his rent In advance and seemed to be a nice gentleman, ■well bred and cultured, and looked rather like a foreigner. The superintendent's description of Doan varied In many particulars from that ■ given by Mr. Calvert. Doan had pur chased a few second hand tables and chairs from, the superintendent for ' office use. That was the gist of his : knowledge of his'tenant, except that Doan had hired a stenographer, who had the key to the office, and it was •■' likely that she might be there now. So , far as the superintendent knew, Doan , had not shown up at his office for a ' couple of days, and his impression was ' that the stenographer was a bit wor- - ried about her salary. The chief and I hastened to the ele- , vator and were .lifted to the floor on ] which Doan's office was situated. We . tried the handle of the door, on-which-, there was no sign Indicative of the oc- '-, cupant's business. The chief opened the door.^which was not locked. '"jjjpMn A forlorn looking young girl, scarcely j 17 years of age, was the only occu- < pant of the room. She appeared to.be { frightened at our entrance, no doubt at j the chief of police, whose/well known -^ features she recognized. i She was a pale, emaciated little i creature, thin and poorly dressed, her skirt just reaching the tip of her | wornout shoes. Dull and listless eyes c looked out from a mass of frowzy dark i hair. She excited feelings of sympathy t in us both. In a tiny, timid voice she a told us how she had answered an ad-' I vertlsement In the paper and had called i on Mr. Doan and been accepted as his d stenographer. She had been In the 1 office for . two weeks now, at $10 a• 1 week. Mr. Doan had rented a type- f writer from one of the local!" agencies, a but she had done no work upon It what- i ever. She liked ; her employer ,* Im mensely— was very kind and nice to t her, but he read and wrote no letters t and she had actually no "■■ work to do. t "I sit here all' day long and do noth- 1 Ing," she said, not appearing to think t such a sinecure desirable. . 1. The girl ■• added that Doan was In ■ " and out all day long-, and . sometimes s he'd only be there for an hour during ihe day and she wouldn't -see him It again. Last Thursday :he told her he a ™a* going out ,of town and < would be * oacK the; following Monday. No, he .n n a. a "ft paid her for. the second .week, t Qot»t^ her salary was not "due until « ™,if£ aT* He had Paid her: th« first c Zll*^ . *&lary. She' had no idea wh^- * . , was married or single or, r YJlVfJll Ved She -i did know : that ' h for n^f P, cUcally no business done, c In V ?.Tt»r. U^ er wrote nor received .« asMtlv as h?" B he?d«crlbedlhim r as fully as h« r poO r little harassed s brain could manage. Her description i of the man was totally at variance to .v that i given :by eitt* r Mr Calvcrt or t the superintendent of the .building. v She 1 could tell no m ore . There was « nothing s more for ; her Ito tell * The chief = had his ? ev»r rea< 3" hand t in his x pocket, and as w a , the action « of his charitattle* heart i n caseg o f a evident need, "ha handed the K i r i a - -.."{ Bold coin and bade her go home tell- JiR her it would not be -nee*,, ' to y report any further, but that ah« might a leave him' he/" name and " addrej. s ~ so ; f that Bin- cou/;1 .be called,in case of 1 necessity. Hue obeyed; as did every c one who came within the Influence of that woifierfu! character. The chief continued his pursuit for Information. We interviewed' upward of a dozen people—the typewriter peo ple where the machine had been hired; every clerk in the bank who had come In contact,with Doan; the Janitor of the building; the elevator men; the 1 chief, followed one clew after another, doggedly, with determination, until the mass of written information he had received seemed to satisfy. His mind was fully convinced of the fact that it was folly to hunt the city for this man or men. - He was firmly convinced that the crooks had fled. It was, therefore, up to him to catch them, and catch them he would. . I could tell by his mere action, by the expression on his usually impene trable countenance, that •he felt he knew who had done this \ skillful Job.' These were no ordinary crooks. They were ■ band.of*expert forgers and the chief knew that there was .lust one band of these men alive today who operated by raising paper, although the last of them had been heard of as being In a foreign Jail. That was some years ago. but some, criminals have the nine lives of a cat. These were the chiefs deductions, as 1 learned In due course of time. We returned to the office sharply at 7 o'clock. The detectives had their re ports ready. They had gleaned no ad ditional information from that pro cured by the chief. Lees detailed the men to the various and lodging houses, fearing, per that he mlerht be in error in his deductions, and the men had not yet taken flight He had the ferries and railway depots covered and notified the entire department to be on the lookout for a man whose description would follow shortly. The old chief removed his hat and overcoat and ordered me to copy ac-" curately every description that I had taken of Doan !n my notes. I did bo and brought them to him. He got up and locked his door, issuing peremp tory orders that no one was to disturb him. Then the old master went to his desk, with upward of 50 descriptions of Doan. as supplied by as many different people. Herein lay the secret of the success of I. W. Lees, one of the World's noted detective*. I shall never forget as long as I live the two hours he spent over those puzzling, varying descriptions, each one vitally different from the next one, and. after a long, tedious research, he made one composite description which was a marvel in Its absolute correct ness of every feature of Doan as I later knew him. The eyes, the nose, the mouth, each feature, each characteristic, was as clean cut as though the Individual stood In the flesh before the artist. Intui tively he had the man smooth faced, aans whiskers, sans mustache. Chief Lees' talent In this direction was noth ing short of marvelous. His composite description of Doan was a living, speak ing likeness, In fact so tremendously like the original man aa to create a feeling of almost awe at the keenness and the real detective ability that Lees possessed. I saw him then take an album of na tional and international forgers and turn page after page, glancing swiftly but comprehensively, long and patent ly, searching each hardened plctui -d face carefully and intelligently, unt 1 last he came upon the portraits of i.ie men his bloodhound instinct hzi scented as the criminals io this case. Eventually, after pondering the mat ter and "giving the written description and the pictures much studj\ he seemed satisfied. Again he wired the Pinkertons a long telegram. .;,Circulars , with a face, an swering i the • chief's composite) portrait of Doan were sent to every, banking. In ! stitution In the United " States and Eu rope. '.The'correspondence■ that ensued between the office of the San Francisco chief and the Plnkertons would fill vol umes. Notes s were ; compared, clews run down ! from * everywhere; and i every source. , Finally,, the . police * department bere and the • Plnkertons were : con vinced :. that "_, they - had discovered who the guilty, ones were. To catch them was now the object on which every ■ energy was ; strained. ;■:. Several days after the commission of the ■ crime,:and" after the \ machinery of every police department and Plnkerton agency, had : been set In \ motion, a tele gram arrived \ from St. Paul. r j A man answering Doans description had been arrested in that city.-, it was a ; bright young bank cashier had finepredthe arrest. The young fal low had pasted:directly In front of ] l i S : cage a San Francisco -circular warning the tianfc to T>e on the lookout for a man of the description in the bill. He was a wise young man and he scanned the facea of the long line of customers who were cashing checks, when his eyes suddenly fell upon a man standing a short distance down the line the living counterpart of the face he had pasted in hl« window and which face had become part and parcel of his every thought. Surely there could be no mistake The cashier excused himself for a moment called the bank detective and it was short work to have the suspect taken from the line and nlaced in police cus tody. Requisition speedily followed The man, who gave his name as E I* Cleaver, was brought to San Francisco He was easily identified, as his face was in every rogues' gallery in the United States, a man with an international record as a forger and who had served many terms not only in the United States but in Europe. .v.7116*. ,rhlef" composite portrait though In words only, was truly life like. How he did it is one of those Ve markable feats quite Impossible to ex plain. Cleaver was brought daily before th« efataT. but was obdurate in hi. ref»*al 5o !*art° n maUer nearesti l° Lec b - Oh. no, chief," he would say with a laugh, -no third degree for yours truly* I'll rot here before - you'll ■ get anything out <»'»•■ You've got. nothing on me eV?£nH°flU^ -1 " hOU'd be^which I wont —Identified as your man i Doan I'll stand pat Go as far as; you like.' My past record I know is against 'me but it's up to you to convict me" -'• " "That's all right. Ed," gayly rejoined th« chief with a «ur«ln/chuckle. of ( these days, soon, too, you and I are going to have a matinee just by our two selves; one ■ of those regular Ella Wheeler Wllcox ■ heart ; to heart talks; you understand? Then we'll come to some, real definite " conclusion ' I'm not .worrying,'old boy." "Neither am, I," coolly responded the shrewd; ; prisoner. ''When you get me to give up anything I don't want, Ito I'll shake you by the hand and say you're a] eorcerer/allfright, .ill ? j*igM. How are you on hypnotism,.:chief 7 ; I've been reading about that gag lately—want'to try It on me some dayr* "No, Eddie, my boy," facetiously an swered the old master, falling into the mood of the other, but looking straight Into hli cold, piercing: eyes with a praze as cold as the other's, "there's no hyp notic influence or power about me. I rely solely upon my sincere regard for you and your kind. I'll get you, surely, surely. And I'll accept your compliment when that time comes and even allow I am a sorcerer or a witch or a wizard, any of the three you prefer. Goodby, Ed. "By the way, anything you want downstairs, Kri? Don't be bashful. I'm going to treat you fine," chortled the Jhief. 1 "Well, chief," responded the prisoner, with his mirthless iaugh, "I should like my bawth and my valet. I should aluo like a hot bird and a cold bottle. The cuisine downstairs is hardly to my taste, and the chef really spices the edibles too freely—but it'll do for awhile, I fawncy." "Yes, Ed, and a long while, too, un less—" The sentence remained incomplete. One malignant glance the prisoner flashed at the chief and the officer tor>k him to the city prison. The identifications were hardly com plete. When Doan operated in San Francisco he had worn a mustache and beard. When sent from St. Paul hi* face was clean shaven. The majority of those who knew him, who had come within his acquaintance, were positive that the eyes of Cleaver and Doan wero the same, but no one was positive in his identification. The Munsterberg theory has of late days shown us that Identification is one of the most pecu liar puzzles. Police departments have always found it so. Doan. alias Cleaver, alias a dozen more names, was to all appearances a gentleman of polish and education, a man who had traveled all over the world, keen, quick witted, well read, a man of culture and refinement. He was familiar with several language.", brilliant at repartee, shrewd, clever and interesting at all times. He was always immaculately dressed, was strong, handsome, with regular feature?, and resembled some eminent physlc/an or lawyer rather than the crook ho proved to be. Por three days the old roaster and Cleaver kept up their dvel of wits. Cleaver spent hours in the fief's office. I was always secreted during these in terviews, and had ray instructions that the instant any matter pertaining to the case at issue was discussed I must be sura and get the report verbatim. Lees.; and ? the j prisoner i. would '■■, swap stories = like two dd:pals.V Cleaver would brazenly ■ tellfof I his: experiences ■in : the - different, European ' prisons * in which he :had been incarcerated, and he and his listener would burst Into laugh- many ; times v during f the; recital. Cleaver \ was too ■ keen," too ; bright, too intelligent ! a man • tcf ( be caught \ In any trap. Had he not been closeted time and :again with, prefect of police, In France,"police>superintendents in t;ng land. In Russia and In Scotland? One more closet session meant nothing to him but a battle between • mentalities In which he felt assured he would al ways come off the victor. His experiences with the Scotland Yarders were Interesting in the ex treme, his effrontery In laughing- and jesting at the old master, in even an-^ ticipating a confession, was humorous and exciting. Did Lees think he was any cleverer or had a stronger combat ive personality than those officials with whom Cleaver had come Into combat abroad? Hardly. An.l so the duel of two big 1 men In their respective lines proceeded, each one on his guard against the other. The chief was In variably good natured, apparently in different in his attitude, friendly In manner, yet it was easy to see that every nerve was extended, every ut terance carefully weighed before phras ing, as he cajoled and pleaded, endeav oring to spring the trap and catch the prisoner In some startling admission, that would mean conviction. Cleaver, In contrast, was ralra. serene ly regardless of his situation—playful, vicious at times, yet always guarded, clever and alert to lead the conversa tion far away from the possibility of damning admission. Thus the two clever men played with each other. First the chief would have the ad vantage, then the turn would be flic prisoner's. The third ilay was the last. Every game has its finish. This was the climax of a most exciting one The strain had begun to tell. The prisoner's nonchalance had partially left him. His joyous mood, possibly pretense, had changed to seriousness. The ,iokes and epigram* were missing from his speech. He had not slept. His fastidious digestion had failed to respond. He was nervous and in con sequence irritable. His eye* had lost some of their brilliancy, the prison pal 'or was more pronounced. The prison bars had l»'?run to wear upon him. ■The wonderful old chief now became the vulture— bird Was £ ready .: for Plucking.' He had read the man's mind. He knew the opportunity was his, th» time ripe for that for which his soul thirsted— confession. The chief did not care about this particular man. He wanted, the "scratch."-the man who did : the raising: of; the check, the artist, the.dangerous i criminal, the one 1 who > was the: lithog rapher. That was the man the chief yearned to have; within his clutches..'':. He went about it In his masterly way. t Gradually," cunningly,v shrewdly,.the old chief/ bit by, hit < morsel by morsel,' with out a trace ot excitement or undue zeal, r went' to, work at his task of breaking the prisoner down, loosening: his tongue, breaking -him; down so forcibly and completely- so terrifically and, artistic ally.that the story, when It .was told, was one of. the most vividly Interesting chapters in police : history* that v have come i within my experience.' : ■ " /..Calmly, dispassionately," the old chief questioned, his voice quivering with kindness understood tb». oharatter . whom he was dealing. H«,V»c«r" that threats In such en Instance were unavailing:. Many questions were a«Xed and answered, the man Interrogated barely conscious of his replies, un comprehending that he was btlng sweated to the roots of his soul. He told his story. What a story It was! The plot was laid In New York city, he related. The ."scratch," the artist Bender, had served a term In Turkey and had escaped from jail with th« ' two other men In % the pang. They had broken jail after seriously wound ing the Jailer, arrived In New York, nd all three by different routes and under assumed names. A personal was inserted In one of the New York dal lies and a meeting arranged. Ban Francisco was chosen as an msj mark. Th« 'scratch," Bender, located in • Sacramento. The man, or the "angel," as he Is called, the one who puts up the money, Caldwell by name, csn»o di rect "to San Francisco. McCarthy, an» Othar of the gang, was hired especially,, as the watchdog. Doan was the ma selected to lay down the paper, to opa? r the account with tho bank and uo th« " "gentleman" act,' the opening of the office, etc. All four men were experienced crooks with highly scented criminal records everywhere. The quartet trusted one another not at all. Each one watched the other like a cat, fearing perhaps «, « leak or a mistake, or a "pinch," and' Watching was necessary. ■■ The $12 draft was Issued from the I little bank up state. This draft was f immediately forwarded to the "scratch" at Sacramento. After days of hard / work the clever and crafty artist. r by> vslng a'camera hair brush and various chemicals, succeeded in raising the figures from 12 to 22,000, and filled In the perforation with a degree of ac curacy Impossible to detect with the naked eye. Hours he worked at his task until he had completed the picture to his complete satisfaction v > was an artistic work. ' A Meissonler corf 1 Jjf~rio — have done so ■well. The "scratch" and CaldweU came to £ a uw Francisco on separate trains. Neither of these worthies was ever seen In the other'j company. This was one : of their bylaws. They could not • afford to be identified. ■ A star, in any . profession, la . a marked figure. When the star.is a crook his discovery weans: more to him than temporary newspaper notoriety. There Is the "«u/." The t draft :In Its latest dress was mailed to Doan's ■ office. t, Doan received it and took it to the bank. One block 5 behind him trailed Caldwell, obviously to watch for, a "pinch/ but really, to *■ watch that ■ Doan did not "ho* the ' whole swag," as they say in the par lance of crooks. / One block behind ' Caldwell trailed McCarthy, the "scratch's" watchdog- to see that no crooked work was done be tween Doan. and Caldwell. and th •scratch" left In the lurch. How thes" crooks love and trust one another! *~ Placidly, calmly, without the trem bling of a fingren,'. the quivering of an eyelash. ' Doan J laid down the raised check. ' At: ther' entrance to the bank stood Caldwell, his eyes glued on the cashier, unperturbed. Directly outside In the atreet M *eeringr through the large plate glass % .idow, on the sidewalk, stojd McCarthy. th« watch dog, watch ing both men intently. « The cashier counted the money.Doan; placed it In a ; valise.: " The " cashier turned to the next. customer. Quief'r Doan left the bank, the two. men tr-j»*t ingr him step by step, block by bloc l*f The four crooks met in a room l\ 7 / uptown hotel, it was their first IIP only meeting in San Francisco. TIR/Sf Xt the bank, the two men trVl step by step, block by bloc 1 } ur crooks met !n a room 1< 1/ hotel. It was their RntVM ting In San Francisco. Tlr<flj** vision of spoils, and th left by separate routes for the east that? same night.' • . 'I; That! was 1 Cleaver's story. It ended in the arrest of ail the :.ien. who were returned to this city At the 4 first .trial the "scratch," ; Bender and? < aldwell were given a life sentence, buT the supreme court (reversed the decolors of the lower court, and on the second J trial the. "scratch" was sentenced to eight years - and Caldwell to six year in SanQuentin. McCarthy liber ated,: and ' has \ since died. - Doan served about two years, was released, and has • led a respectable life ever, since. Cald »ve!l was last heard from as being in Valparaiso. "MHnSUHk? - ** The "scratch," Bender, is. regularly employed as lithographer at.;a laris* salary by a; famous New York bßnJi.ii>> •institution in order to keep: bin Straight, -The firm pays him a premium as it realizes that he is a dangerous* man in any part of the civilized world -f When the old'master; had • completed!} his - day's • work, , : and > ? had' . literally wormed a full confession from the pris oner before him. petting all the details of : the forgery Just as rit had occurred.7 Cleaver/ or Doan. looked at'him "a. mo ment, and with a perceptible trembling of the'lips, and moisture in his eyes, . murmured: -. J- "Chief Lees. ' I congratulate • yoi£ Shake hands, you are a sorcer«r." -i