Crosby - The great pearl heist: Londons greatest jewel thief and Scotland Yards hunt for the worlds most valuable necklace

The

GREAT PEARL HEIST

Londons Greatest Thief and Scotland Yards Hunt for the Worlds Most Valuable Necklace

M OLLY C ALDWELL C ROSBY

BERKLEY BOOKS

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Copyright 2012 by Molly Caldwell Crosby.

Jacket design by Lesley Worrell.

Jacket photo courtesy of Camden Local Studios and Archives Centre.

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First Edition: December 2012

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Crosby, Molly Caldwell.

The great pearl heist : Londons greatest thief and Scotland Yards hunt for the worlds most valuable necklace / by Molly Caldwell Crosby.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-425-25280-2 (alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-101-61343-6 (eBook)

1. Jewelry theftEnglandLondonCase studies. 2. Receiving stolen goodsEnglandLondonCase studies. 3. Burglary investigationEnglandLondonCase studies. 4. Robbery investigationEnglandLondonCase studies. I. Title.

HV6665.G7C76 2012

364.16'2873927dc23

2012008261

For my parents,
Tom and Mary Elizabeth Caldwell,
Anglophiles, misplaced in Texas

CONTENTS

THE GRIZZARD GANG

JOSEPH GRIZZARD,aka Kemmy, Cammi, or Joseph Goldsmith: Greatest receiver, fence, and putter-up of his time.

JAMES LOCKETT,aka The Prince of Thieves, Lockett-the-Lionhearted, Fitzpatrick, William Preston, Harry Graham, and James Howard: One of Londons greatest burglars and screwsmen, second in command to Grizzard.

SIMON SILVERMAN: Associate of Grizzard and Lockett. He worked as a legitimate and illegitimate jeweler operating out of an office in Hatton Garden.

LESIR GUTWIRTH: A Hatton Garden trader, not highly regarded by jewelers or thieves.

DANIEL M C CARTHY: At the time of the pearl heist, McCarthy was eighty-two years old with a long and successful career as a thief.

SCOTLAND YARD DETECTIVES

ALFRED WARD: Chief inspector; one of Scotland Yards original and most talented detectives. He was lead detective in the pearl necklace case.

ALFRED LEACH: A former superintendent. He shadowed and investigated Joseph Grizzard until retiring. Worked as a consultant during the pearl heist case.

FRANK FROEST: Superintendent from 1906 to 1913, overseeing what was considered the most talented group of detectives in Scotland Yards history.

BASIL THOMPSON: Superintendent at the time of the heist.

SERGEANT CORNISH: Wards second in command.

OTHER YARDMEN ON THE CASE: Sergeants Cooper, Fondville, Haymann, Gamblett, Soden, Booth, Coles, Moorman, Goodwillie, and Prosser.

OTHER PRINCIPAL PLAYERS

MAX MAYER: One of Hatton Gardens most refined jewelers. He specialized in pearls.

HENRI SOLOMANS: An associate of Mayers who worked in the jewel district of Paris.

FRANK BEAUMONT PRICE: The underwriter who insured the necklace for Lloyds of London.

SAMUEL BRANDSTATTER: A distant cousin of Lesir Gutwirths whose interest in the pearl necklace was piqued by a reward offered for its return. He lived in Paris.

MYER QUADRATSTEIN: A cousin of Brandstatters who had far more experience and worldly understanding. He also lived in Paris.

MAX SPANIER: The self-described expert from Paris who played the part of French receiver.

SIR RICHARD MUIR: A talented barrister, he served as lead prosecutor for the Crown.

THE NECKLACE

There are many ways to calculate the value of the pearl necklace. In 1913, the necklace was insured with Lloyds of London for 135,000. The exchange rate at that time was about $4.87 for 1, placing the value of the necklace anywhere from $650,000 to $750,000 USD. Today, in simplest terms, the purchasing power of that amount would be close to 10 million or $18 million, which puts this necklace among the most expensive jewels sold in recent years. To understand the real value of the necklace, however, you have to consider the GDPgross domestic productas well. And the GDP share of that amount would be around 81 million or over $121 million in todays dollar. In other words, when you take the value of the necklace in 1913 and put it in perspective with the overall economy of Britain during the same time period, the pearls become even more valuable. To gather these numbers, I used historic purchasing-power calculators from the Economic History Association in the United Kingdom at measuringworth.com. Regardless of how you calculate the relative value, during its time, this strand of pearls was considered the most valuable necklace in the world, worth twice the price of the Hope Diamond.

VERNACULAR

BurglaryBreaking into and entering a structure in order to take valuables. Burglars were also referred to as screwsmen.

ConfederateA trusted member of a gang or group of thieves.

Confidence tricksterA con man or con artist. Someone who gains the confidence of others to trick or defraud them.

CrusherPoliceman on the beat.

FenceSomeone who knowingly buys stolen goods for resale. Also known as a receiver. A fence often organized and funded large-scale burglaries and heists.

GrassCriminals who work with the police as informers. Shopping was another term for informing on others.

LarcenyLegal term for theft. Unlike burglary or robbery, larceny does not involve violence but rather the taking of personal property.