In a second floor office of the General Post Office headquarters, Edward Stratford, a senior clerk in the Secretary’s Office, listened carefully to his immediate superior.

‘We have received complaints of the non-arrival of specific items, namely coins and banknotes, over a prolonged period. We want this man caught, Stratford, and punished to the full letter of the law. To that end you are tasked, along with Detective Blake here, from ‘A’ Division, to come up with a plan to ensure this happens’.

‘Of course, sir. If the detective would care to come with me, I have an idea how this can be achieved.’

‘Very well. This cannot be allowed to continue, Stratford, such blatant thievery sullies the good name of this fine institution.’

‘Indeed sir. Detective?’ The clerk held the door and Blake followed him out. ‘I’m afraid my office isn’t quite so grand as the one we’ve just left, but it will be adequate for our discussion, I believe.’

Stratford’s office was small, one of three partitioned off from a larger room by half-walls of timber topped with windows of etched glass, to give a sense of privacy. Inside was a desk with chairs on either side, a bookcase filled with bound editions of London street directories, and some wooden cupboards beneath the window.

‘Please sit down, detective.’ As Blake sat, Stratford opened a cupboard and removed a stiff brown envelope. From a box on the top shelf, he took a piece of white cloth and some coins.

‘I propose we post a package containing specific items that are sure to attract the attention of our miscreant. Namely this silk handkerchief, which is new and purchased for just such an occasion. As you can see, there is a particular design woven into it. Quite distinctive, wouldn’t you say?’ Blake nodded. ‘I will add these two half-crowns but first I am going to mark them with this punch,’ he indicated a small punch, similar to one that may be used for embossing legal documents, which was fixed to the edge of his desk.

‘We mark coins for later identification. We each have our own mark and mine resembles a crescent moon. I am going to emboss my mark just here.’ He indicated a space to the left of the lowest lion in the shield, placed each coin in position in turn and pulled the lever. The mark hardly showed at all and, at first glance was nothing more than general wear and tear.

‘Would it not be better to make the mark on the face side of a coin, there being less decoration on that side?’

‘Oh no. We would never deface a portrait of the King, detective. Never. Besides, the mark would be more obvious there.’

Stratford wrapped the coins in the handkerchief, then took up his pen and addressed the envelope.

‘Our man will have delivered mail to this address on several occasions. However, the intended recipient is Master W J Currie, who is not a real person, and it is reasonable to assume that Master Currie may be a child temporarily residing with Mr Plum. I don’t know if you know the area, detective, but Powis Gardens are desirable residences and most keep at least one servant, so our man will anticipate the coins contained within this envelope to have some value, and the weight will assist in that assumption.’

With the envelope addressed in the clerk’s impeccable handwriting, the handkerchief and coins placed within, and the envelope sealed fast, Stratford bade Blake to go with him.

It was a short tram journey from Stratford’s office to Hendon Post Office where Stratford and Blake spoke to head postman Richardson and showed him the test packet.

‘There’s a collection due at half past twelve, Mr Stratford, from the box outside. You pop that letter in there and I’ll make sure it’s taken straight round the back to the sorting office and placed in the rack to be delivered this afternoon. Postman Violet will see to it. I’ll be watching him; you can be sure of it.’

Stratford duly posted the letter then headed back to his office after arranging to meet Detective Blake at Hendon at eight o’clock the following morning.

Meanwhile, head postman Richardson watched and followed as the envelope was collected and taken with the other mail round to the sorting office to be stamped. There, he had a quiet word with his counterpart, head postman Holmes, who suggested he would take a stroll out to Powis Gardens later that afternoon. As he regularly did this to check on his men, no-one would think anything of his absence.

The next morning, Stratford and Blake returned to Hendon Sorting Office and confronted Charles Dabinet, a twenty-two-year-old auxiliary postman whose round included Powis Gardens. When asked if he had delivered a ‘packet’ to 9 Powis Gardens the previous afternoon, Dabinet said he had not. He had, if he remembered correctly, delivered a small envelope which he thought contained an invitation of some kind, ‘such as the gentleman often received’. Asked to turn out his pockets, Dabinet produced several coins of small denomination, along with two half-crowns. Stratford examined them carefully and nodded to Blake.

‘Where did you get these?’

‘Oh, I don’t remember. I think they were passed to me by my landlady.’

‘What about this silk handkerchief?’

‘That? I’ve had one like that for four years or so. I’ve never used it as I keep it for best.’ Blake conferred with Stratford who indicated it was the same handkerchief he had placed in the envelope.

‘Mr Richardson, could you please repeat what you told Mr Stratford and myself when we arrived here this morning?’

‘Of course, detective. After your visit yesterday, I watched postman Violet remove the 12.30 mail collection from the post-box outside. I followed him into the Sorting Office where Mr Holmes and I watched postman Violet place a specific packet into the rack where the afternoon deliveries for Golder’s Green were being made up, along with several other letters. I then returned to my own office.’

‘Mr Holmes, please state what you saw and did.’

‘After Mr Richardson left, postman Dabinet returned from his lunch and I watched him sort his post into order, then put it into his bag and leave. I confirm that the packet mentioned by Mr Richardson was among the items placed into that bag. After postman Dabinet left to start his round, I returned to my office to complete some work, then walked directly to Powis Gardens. I arrived at four o’clock and secreted myself behind a bush in the garden of the house opposite number nine. Approximately ten minutes later, postman Dabinet arrived and handed a small envelope to a servant who was waiting on the step at number nine. I did not see the packet that had been posted to the same address handed over. I waited for several minutes in case postman Dabinet had inadvertently retained the packet in his bag and would return, but he didn’t, so I came back to the office and conferred with Mr Richardson.’ Richardson took up the story again.

‘Mr Holmes and I agreed that he should visit postman Dabinet’s lodgings this morning. He waited until Dabinet left for work then spoke to his landlady, who turns out to be his aunt. When he explained who he was, she passed him that handkerchief, saying she’d found it on the floor behind the clothes basket and, assuming ‘Charlie’ had misplaced it, asked Mr Holmes if he would kindly give it to her nephew. Mr Holmes handed it to me, and I gave it to you, detective.’

‘Thank you. Mr Dabinet, can you explain how you came to be in possession of this handkerchief and these two-half crowns, which Mr Stratford, a clerk in the Secretary’s Office at General Post Office headquarters, has identified as items he placed into an envelope yesterday morning – in my presence – and which was addressed to Master W J Currie care of J Plum esquire at 9 Powis Gardens?’

‘As I said before, I never saw a packet for that address, the handkerchief was bought years ago but never used, though I believe I may be mistaken about the coins being given by my aunt. It is more likely they were in my wage packet when I collected it on Friday. I have nothing more to say on the matter.’

‘Then you will accompany me to the nearest police station where your statement will be taken down and you will be charged with theft and detained until your trial.’

***

Charles Dabinet’s trial took place at the Old Bailey on 8 October 1912. His was the fifth case of mail theft heard that day. On oath, his aunt stated she had not given Dabinet the two half-crowns nor previously seen the white silk handkerchief. On oath, Dabinet swore he had never seen the test packet and had owned the handkerchief for four years. He accused his aunt of being forgetful and repeated that he’d been given the two half-crowns in his wages.

A representative of the GPO stated that a hundred complaints relating to losses on this round alone had been received during the five weeks before Dabinet’s arrest, which had immediately ceased. Several postal packets were found in Dabinet’s possession after his arrest; all had been opened. Dabinet was found guilty of mail theft and sentenced to fifteen months’ hard labour for the theft of five shillings, the equivalent of half a week’s wages for an auxiliary postman.

Between July 1774 and December 1913, one thousand-seven-hundred-and-sixty-seven postal workers in total were convicted of mail theft at the Old Bailey, with one – William Whalley – given the death penalty in June 1824 for several offences of mail theft.