kind of Nike runner. The kind available locally had a blue sole, the investigators had been told by the shoe’s importers. A footprint like this one had also been recorded at the scene of a few other break-ins in the area.

Almost Nabbed – But a Breakthrough

On August 30, a ground-floor apartment in Narong Road was burgled, and money and jewelry were stolen. Told about it by a colleague from Elsternwick police, Fontana urged that every robbery in the area be closely scrutinized. Further investigations revealed that, besides also stealing pantyhose and a kitchen knife, the intruder had spent time in the flat – eating chocolate, watching TV and smoking. It looked as if he had been waiting for the female occupant to return from her Saturday night outing.

“Ijust had a gut feeling he was going to come back,” recalls Fontana. Backing his instinct, he insisted on setting up a “sting,” placing a fellow officer in the same flat the following Saturday night, September 6. He badly wanted to be there himself, but his 30th birthday was on September 7 and the Saturday night had been set for a celebration with his wife.

At 9:35 p.m. the following Saturday, the policeman waiting inside the Narong Road flat heard the doorbell ring. An hour later, his adrenaline surged at the unmistakable sound of a window being forced open. With every creak of the window frame discernible in the silence, he couldn’t use his police radio. Reaching his hand out to the phone, he began to dial the local