Black, Jack, 1871-1932; Criminals -- Canada -- Biography; Criminals -- United States -- Biography
I could have borrowed money enough to expense myself to Vancouver where
I had the valuable watch planted, but there had been such a cry in the
papers about the car burglary, the loser was so powerful and
influential, and the danger of trying to sell it so great, that I
decided to leave it there till later, and take it to the American side.
During my stay in Victoria I had strolled through the residence district
and noted several homes that looked prosperous and easy of approach.
House burglary was almost unknown there then; there was almost no police
protection, none was needed. Householders left windows open and doors
unlocked.
One o’clock found me in one of the most pretentious places on my list,
but instead of picking up trifles right and left as I expected, I found
but one room occupied. Later I learned the family, with the exception of
the man of the house, was away for the summer. He was a good sleeper. I
took nothing but money, and not much of that—less than fifty dollars in
silver and bills—leaving his watch and some small articles of jewelry as
not worth the chances I must take in trying to dispose of them in a
strange town.
I went straight downtown to the only all-night bar and lunch counter to
eat before going to bed. Before I had my meal finished two officers and
two civilians came in and spoke to the sleepy bartender. He nodded
toward me and they all came over to where I sat eating. One of the
civilians looked at me closely and said to the other: “Looks very much
like the man; same clothes, same hat, same build, same height.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“This,” spoke up the other. “If I am wrong you have an apology in
advance; if I am right you are in for it. I was robbed not an hour ago
in my bedroom in my house. This man, my servant, had occasion to get out
of bed and, while standing at a window in his room, saw the prowler
leaving stealthily by the rear way. Suspicious, he alarmed me, and I
discovered my loss. I brought these officers here on a bare chance that
the burglar might be here. You are the only one who has entered here,
except us, in the last hour. I do not accuse you. I ask you if you will
permit the officers to search you. If you are an honest man, you cannot
take offense.”
He was the man I had robbed; he was an Attorney; he was a smart man. I
was in a bad hole. If I objected to search it would look bad, and they
would do it anyway. “Certainly. Go ahead and search me,” I said, making
the best of a bad position. When the officers had finished searching me,
they counted the money.
“Lock him up,” ordered the lawyer. “He has the exact amount of money I
lost. The paper corresponds, and so does the silver.”
They handcuffed me. “You’re arrested in the name of the Crown, and
anything you say will be used against you.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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