his downfall. He looked and acted older than his age. He enjoyed “amusing himself” by vandalism. A veteran safecracker, Lowell Jack, turned nitroglycerine maker hired the young Arthur to deliver nitro. A life of crime was well underway. He was subsequently prosecuted as being a “stubborn child”.
After serving honourably in the American army as a medic during WW I, Arthur makes his home in New York City where he swiftly becomes in the words of Hercule Poirot a “.... thief of distinction”.
He steals from the rich. Arthur rationalizes:
“People rich enough to own jewels,” he reasoned, “never had to worry about their next meal.” And they would no doubt have an insurance policy to cover their losses.
Arthur carefully plans his thefts. Still I was amazed at his steely nerves. Most of his robberies take place while the victims are in the house.
Among the most striking of his thefts is the robbery at the Long Island estate of Joshua and Nellie Cosden while they are hosting Lord Louis and Lady Edwina Mountbatten. After everyone has retired he climbs a rose trellis and slips into the house. He steals the jewelry Nellie had on that night that she had left on a dressing table. He enters the Mountbatten bedroom and takes jewelry Edwina had left in a tray. Mountbatten awakes and turns on a light. Arthur, in a movie scene, hides behind a curtain until Mountbatten turns off the light and goes back to sleep. He steals jewels worth $172,000 that night. He fences them for about $17,000.
Arthur is about to face a determined foe. Nassau County on Long Island organizes a County Police Department and the determined Harold King is appointed Chief of Detectives. He is known as the “scholarly cop”.
Arthur often wears a suit on his thefts. He is careful to always wear gloves so that he leaves no fingerprints.
Chased from a home by two servants and recognizing the growing risk from police and homeowners, Arthur decides in the mid-1920’s to engage an accomplice. He choses a former Worchester resident, James Monahan.
It was inevitable that he would be arrested. The circumstances of his arrest and questioning were remarkable.
There is abundant drama in his downfall.
I have written Jobb about Arthur’s interactions with the legal system and lawyers. The letter and reply, if he responds and consents to his answers being posted, will form another post.
Jobb is a brilliant narrator. He has the gift of storytelling. He keeps the story moving while inserting vivid word illustrations of events. I prefer non-fiction to proceed chronologically. Jobb follows that approach setting out Arthur’s life story as it happened. I was drawn along, wanting impatiently to find out what happened next in his life. That feeling happens regularly when I read fiction but it is rare that a writer of non-fiction can pull me that deeply into the story. A Gentleman and a Thief is a great book.
Oh, this sounds like a really interesting story, Bill. What's even more fascinating is that it's biographical. That must have taken steely nerves indeed to steal in the way he did. My guess is, the story of finding and arresting him is at least as interesting as his own story.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Margot. He had the looks and flair to have been a movie star. He could have played himself. His involvement with the legal system is my next post.
DeleteArthur sounds almost like a Yankee version of Raffles
ReplyDeleteMarty: Thanks for the comment which is very apt. As early as 1922 newspapers were referring to robberies done by Barry as "Raffles jobs". It is a striking coincidence that both Raffles and Barry had the same first name of "Arthur".
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