Word: thief
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...THIEF-TAKER GENERAL, THE RISE AND FALL OF JONATHAN WILD by Gerald Howson. 338 pages. St. Martin's Press...
...nation in jail or out. Wild perfected England's first coherent system for detecting and arresting criminals. Yet his success at organizing crime detection was due to the fact that he took great care to organize the crime in the first place. He not only became the "Thief-Taker General of Great Britain and Ireland," as he took to calling himself; he was also the realm's principal thief...
Trade in Children. The thief-taking racket had limitless possibilities; the constabulary of the time was weak, criminals were many, and Parliament had authorized payment of 40 ? for evidence in a capital case. This system of rewards was intended to break up London's big gangs by making betrayal profitable. The trouble was that although there were some 350 capital offenses on the books, it was not always easy or politic to lay hands on those who had actually committed them. This led naturally to frame-ups, and also to a brisk trade in children and other innocents...
Last week someone not only took the Cup but left four empty Schlitz beer cans in its place. Apparently satisfied with the deal. Stiles kept the cans on display, but the thief realized his mistake and reclaimed the prized cans for the trophy...
POPE BROCK as Jack Sheppard is excellent. He is self-assured and at the same time suitably wide-eved and innocent. David Gullette as the Thief-Taker General scowls meanly and reads his lines with precise meter and intonation. Senelick is good at developing expert character actors; Dribbling Wilf ("a criminal mastermind of the first water"), played by E. Mackenzie, has remarkable facial control and an admirable ability to salivate. The Incredible Porty McFigg (Lawrence F. Uhl) cats glass, strangles rats with his teeth, roars and grunts and pounds in his pornography-painted chest, all with considerable glee...