Saturday, July 27, 2019

Traces of Crime

painting of the gold diggings, by Edward Roper

Traces of Crime by Mary Fortune is an 1865 Australian detective story told from the detective's point of view. I find it fascinating for several reasons, and it's quite readable still. You can read it online here. It begins,
THE STORY

There are many who recollect full well the rush at Chinaman's Flat. It was in the height of its prosperity that an assault was committed upon a female of a character so diabolical in itself, as to have aroused the utmost anxiety in the public as well as in the police, to punish the perpetrator thereof.

The case was placed in my hands, and as it presented difficulties so great as to appear to an ordinary observer almost insurmountable, the overcoming of which was likely to gain approbation in the proper quarter, I gladly accepted the task.

I had little to go upon at first. One dark night, in a tent in the very centre of a crowded thoroughfare, a female had been preparing to retire to rest, her husband being in the habit of remaining at the public-house until a late hour, when a man with a crêpe mask—who must have gained an earlier entrance—seized her, and in the prosecution of a criminal offence, had injured and abused the unfortunate woman so much that her life was despaired of. Although there was a light burning at the time, the woman was barely able to describe his general appearance; he appeared to her like a German, had no whiskers, fair hair, was low in stature, and stoutly built.

With one important exception, that was all the information she was able to give me on the subject. The exception, however, was a good deal to a detective, and I hoped might prove an invaluable aid to me. During the struggle she had torn the arm of the flannel shirt he wore, and was under a decided impression that upon the upper part of the criminal's arm there was a small anchor and heart tattooed.

Now, I was well aware that in this colony to find a man with a tattooed arm was an everyday affair, especially on the diggings, where, I dare say, there is scarcely a person with who has not come in contact more than once or twice with half a dozen men tattooed in the style I speak of—the anchor or heart, or both, being a favourite figure with those "gentlemen" who are in favour of branding. However, the clue was worth something, and even without its aid, not more than a couple of weeks had elapsed when, with the assistance of the local police, I had traced a man bearing in appearance a general resemblance to the man who had committed the offence, to a digging about seven miles from Chinaman's Flat.

8 comments:

  1. Thanks, I have bookmarked it to my ever growing list! Valerie

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    1. Our never-ending, always-expanding to-be-read lists lol

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  2. This sounds good. As I liked the Leavenworth Case when I read that. I have no time today to read it since we have an in-law event, but I am book marking it for later. Thanks for the Monkee film yesterday. I did enjoy seeing it but still didn't remember it when I saw it. Happy Saturday!

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    1. These older stories are often still very readable, and I'm enjoying discovering ones that have a claim to being one of the first of something :)

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    1. I'm a sucker for things that are firsts or that are early examples. This was surprisingly (to me anyway) readable.

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  4. I plan to read this as soon as I catch up. I am running behind because I spent the entire day mowing a lawn that used to take me no more than 4 hours.

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    1. We just got back from a week away, and I may _never_ catch up lol

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