Criminal Investigation
| Published date | 01 November 1966 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6603901106 |
| Date | 01 November 1966 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CrillDindl
Investigation
P.
C.
PHILIP
PEWSEY
Southend-on-Sea Police
LA.RUENY
UYULE
.. There is but one sure road of
access to truth - the road of patient,
co-operative inquiry operating by
means of observation, experiment,
record, and controlled reflection."
John Dewey said that, and in the year I spent attached to the
criminal investigation department I always tried to put this formula
into practice, although Dewey used the words in a political sense.
The defendant, and complainants in this case were females, and
the female of the species can be an unusual creature. She can be
very cunning. and use every wile that her sex gives her, and here
her greed came to light by a fluke which will be revealed later.
Mrs. L worked in a local radio factory, her husband was a bus
driver, and as she had no family and they were buying their house
on mortgage, she, like so many others, had another, smaller job.
She ran a club, where the members paid a few shillings a week and
were able to buy goods from time to time when they had accrued
enough credit.
About 10 p.m. on Thursday, April 12, 1962, when clearing up my
desk for the day in the C.I.D.
office
at headquarters, the telephone
rang, and a very irate Mrs. L informed me that
her"
Palm
Beach"
cycle had been stolen from outside the house of one of her cus-
tomers. Shehad had a good look round in case some children had
borrowed it for riding up and down the road, but she could find
no trace.
I took as much description as I could at that time, and this was
difficult, because who can remember and describe in detail an obect
like a bicycle? However, I persevered and had a good idea of
what it was like. I circulated this description to the information
room, and that was all I could do at that stage. On the way home
I thought that the following day I would make a search of the
area, although I knew this would be done by the uniform patrols
during the night.
The next day was Friday, the 13th, of all days, but for me it was
a lucky one. I had intended to make my search of the area where
the cycle was stolen in the morning, but my superiors had other
ideas, and it was not until the afternoon that I got to the scene.
On the face of it, it did seem pretty futile but I did have a good
look round, making my area of search wider and wider.
November 1966 562
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