On Thursday last a lady drove up to one of our most respectable hotels in Glasgow, having just arrived, as she intimated, by one of the coaches from Edinburgh. She asked for a Sir John Ferguson, seemed disappointed that he was not at the inn to meet her, and, having taken a bedroom and parlour, remained all night. She made some inquiries in reference to Lord Kelburne, to whom, she said, she was about to pay a visit, and on Friday left the hotel and entered one of the Paisley Railway omnibuses, with the view, as she stated, of going by railway, information having been given her, she alleged, that that was the best mode of reaching his lordship’s residence. Here it is necessary to state that on Friday morning a gentleman, who slept in the inn, discovered that, during the night, his pocket had been picked of 12l.; 7l. of which were in notes, and 5l. in sovereigns. The notes had been wrapped up in a 20l. note; but, as the latter had a mark upon it which might have led to detection, it was left behind by the thief, and, in the place of the five sovereigns, some silver was substituted. In a room on the flat above, another gentleman had a 5l. Bank of England note taken from his pocket, and three sovereigns from a purse, into which, in lieu of the sovereigns, 3s. had been dropped. These mysterious thefts created “quite a sensation” in the hotel; no one dreamed of blaming a lady who expected a visit from Sir John Ferguson, and was on terms of intimacy with my Lord Kelburne—the gentlemen who slept in the inn could not for a moment be supposed guilty of theft—and, as we believe is very usual under similar circumstances, suspicion began to be directed towards one or other of the servants. Towards the evening, information of the thefts was left at the police-office, and Captain Miller made a personal investigation into the matter. Having ascertained that a lady had slept in the inn, and finding from inquiry that this very lady, who was supposed to be on a visit at Lord Kelburne’s, had taken up her residence at another respectable inn in the city, he began to see his way somewhat clearly in the affair. He ascertained that the lady had gone to the second hotel about two hours after she left the first one, so that it was rendered doubtful whether she had gone by the railway at all, as she had stated to be her intention, and at all events, certain that she had not paid a visit to Lord Kelburne. At the second hotel she had also ordered a parlour and bedroom, and intimated her intention of remaining over the night. She sent one of the waiters to take an inside seat in the 6 o’clock morning coach to Edinburgh, and directed a noddy to be in waiting to convey her to the coach at the proper hour on Saturday morning. Having ascertained these particulars, Captain Miller adopted two precautionary measures to secure the detection and apprehension of the lady, should she turn out to be the thief. He wrote to the Edinburgh police, intimating that a female might probably arrive in that city by the 6 o’clock coach, strongly suspected of theft, and requesting them to pay her a little attention. His next precaution was to place one of his officers in a bed-room adjoining that of the lady with injunctions to watch her motions; and here begins a part of our story, which can not fail to excite the amusement of our readers. About 11 o’clock at night, the police-officer went to bed, accompanied by one of the innkeeper’s sons, both having received strict injunctions from the superintendent not to sleep, nor to speak, but wakefully to be on their guard, ready to detect the lady in the adjoining bedroom, should she, during the night, intrude for the purpose of inquiring too curiously into the contents of their pockets. The watchers obeyed most religiously these instructions till about half-past 3 or 4 in the morning, when, wearied with their long vigils, they both fell into a profound sleep. At half-past 5 o’clock they awoke, the lady was half an hour gone; and on the policeman drawing on his unmentionables, he discovered, to his astonishment and mortification, that while he slept, he had been robbed of 2l. The innkeeper’s son, on dipping into his pockets, made a similar discovery; he had been robbed of all the money they contained, which, fortunately, was only a few shillings. In another room a gentleman had had 7l. in notes abstracted from his pocket-book, and their place supplied by a number of small papers, accounts, and the like, which had been taken from one of his pockets; some loose silver had likewise been stolen from the table of another bedroom, on which, however, a gold watch was allowed to remain untouched. The female who has been already so often referred to, left the hotel shortly before 6 in a noddy, having previously partaken of a glass of wine, and at 6 precisely left town by the Edinburgh coach. The police-officer thus awoke just half an hour too late to find the lady, while his misbehaviour had entirely defeated the admirable scheme of the superintendent for detecting the thief. As soon as practicable the female was followed to Edinburgh; but it appears, that though the Edinburgh police, in terms of Captain Miller’s letter, were waiting for the coach by which she arrived, she escaped their hands, their suspicion having fallen upon another passenger; and, so far as we have heard, she has not yet been apprehended. In all likelihood, however, she will soon be discovered.

The lady who who forms the subject of the above narrative, it was feared, had totally eluded the well-directed efforts of the Glasgow and Edinburgh police, but from a communication received by Captain Miller yesterday (Monday), it appears that a female calling herself Jane Patrisci, or Harris, and answering the description given to the officers, was apprehended in a lodging-house at Edinburgh, about 2 o’clock that morning, with about 50l. in notes and sovereigns in her possession. The Glasgow officer, though he somewhat bungled the business by falling asleep along with the innkeeper’s son, who undertook to keep watch in the same recumbent posture, had the precaution to mark the money which he put into his pocket as a bait to the thief, and his quondam bed-fellow did the same. This turns out a most fortunate matter, for among the money found in the possession of Jane Patrisci, or Harris, were the identical notes, and the shilling and sixpence which were marked. The arrival of the prisoner is expected to-day, when she will be examined. She is said to be a woman about 30 years of age, of exquisite manners, and lady-like appearance. The superintendents of police, both in Glasgow and Edinburgh, deserve the highest commendation for having succeeded in well-concerted measures for the detection of such a dangerous and most impudent system of thieving. We should think that when the circumstances are made known gentlemen will take the precaution, even in the most respectable hotels, to lock their bed-room doors when they retire to rest.—Glasgow Courier.

The Times Friday,  Oct. 23, 1840