They then "appealed" to the cop on the beat, who proved more reasonable, but although he used all his force, he was unable to break down the door which had in the meantime been reinforced from the inside.

After about an hour, the old lady unchained the door and invited the detectives to come in.

The crook was sitting by the window smoking a cigar and reading St.Nicholas, while all evidence of his crime had vanished in smoke.
One more anecdote, at the expense of the deductive detective.

A watchman was murdered, the safe of a brewery blown open and the contents stolen.
Local detectives worked on the case and satisfied themselves that the night engineer at the brewery had committed the crime.

He was a quiet and, apparently, a God-fearing man, but circumstances were conclusive against him.