of all crimes which the police are called upon to investigate, the identity of the guilty person is soon established.

The baffling problem is to obtain evidence, admissible in a court of law, which will convince a jury of the defendant's guilt.

Even though a person's guilt be apparent to all, the difficulties in shattering the protecting wall which the law erects around every accused man or woman, are frequently insuperable.

Evidence which convinces the police or the prosecuting attorney of the defendant's culpability is as likely as not to be found incompetent in court and barred from the record.

The result is a verdict of acquittal and all the work of the police goes for naught.
Unfortunately for the public at large, the Lecocq type of detective does not exist outside the pages of fiction.