A day or two later Felix wandered down to Police Headquarters, and in the Rogue’s Gallery identified the photograph of Nelson, whom he then discovered to be none other than William Crane, alias John Lawson, alias John Larsen, a well-known “wire-tapper,” arrested some dozen times within a year or two for similar offences.  McPherson turned out to be Christopher Tracy, alias Charles J. Tracy, alias Charles Tompkins, alias Topping, alias Toppin, etc., etc., arrested some eight or ten times for “wire-tapping.”  The “trusted cashier” materialized in the form of one Wyatt, alias, Fred Williams, etc., a “wire-tapper” and pal of “Chappie” Moran and “Larry” Summerfield.  Detective Sergeants Fogarty and Mundy were at once detailed upon the case and arrested within a short time both Nelson and McPherson.  The “trusted cashier” who had pocketed Felix’s $50,000 has never been caught.  It is said that he is running a first-class hostelry in a Western city.  But that is another story.

When acting Inspector O’Brien ordered McPherson brought into his private room, the latter unhesitatingly admitted that the three of them had “trimmed” Felix of his $50,000, exactly as the latter had alleged.  He stated that Wyatt (alias Williams) was the one who had taken in the money, that it was still in his possession, and still intact in its original form.  He denied, however, any knowledge of Wyatt’s whereabouts.

The reason for this indifference became apparent when the two prisoners were arraigned in the magistrate’s court, and their counsel demanded their instant discharge on the ground that they had committed no crime for which they could be prosecuted.  He cited an old New York case, McCord vs. The People,[2] which seemed in a general way to sustain his contention, and which had been followed by another and much more recent decision.  The People vs. Livingston.[3] The first of these cases had gone to the Court of Appeals, and the general doctrine had been annunciated that where a person parts with his money for an unlawful or dishonest purpose, even though he is tricked into so doing by false pretences, a prosecution for the crime of larceny cannot be maintained.

[Footnote 2:  46 New York 470.]

[Footnote 3:  47 App.  Div. 283.]

In the McCord case, the defendant had falsely pretended to the complainant, a man named Miller, that he was a police officer and held a warrant for his arrest.  By these means he had induced Miller to give him a gold watch and a diamond ring as the price of his liberty.  The conviction in this case was reversed on the ground that Miller parted with his property for an unlawful purpose; but there was a very strong dissenting opinion from Mr. Justice Peckham, now a member of the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States.

In the second case, that of Livingston, the complainant had been defrauded out of $500 by means of the “green goods” game; but this conviction was reversed by the Appellate Division of the Second Department on the authority of the McCord case.  The opinion in this case was written by Mr. justice Cullen, now Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, who says in conclusion: