The Dutch Sherlock

Forty Years of Detective Work by the Famous Dutch Forensic Pioneer Co van Ledden Hulsebosch

Maurice Aalders, Arian Asten

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040781791
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Index: Social Sciences

In the beginning of the 20th century, inspired by the Sherlock Holmes novels of Arthur Conan Doyle, scientists began to make their appearance at the crime scene. It was quickly discovered that studying the 'silent witnesses', crime-related physical evidence and traces, could provide a wealth of information. In many countries pioneers started to shape this new science area by formulating key principles and introducing novel methods and instrumentation. In the Netherlands, Co van Ledden Hulsebosch emerged as the first dedicated forensic scientist, and he quickly became a well-known figure. In 1945 he published his memoirs Forty Years of Detective Work, where he describes his most memorable cases and provides the reader with entertaining insights in how he was able to solve so many crimes through sound reasoning and the use of science. Almost eighty years later, a forensic academic network in the Netherlands is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. This network, consisting of forensic scientists from Dutch universities, academic medical centers, the Dutch Police, and the Netherlands Forensic Institute, is named after this Dutch forensic legend: the Co van Ledden Hulsebosch Center (clhc). For this special occasion, clhc-affiliated scientists and experts translated the memoirs of Co van Ledden Hulsebosch with the use of modern AI tools while also providing contemporary views and insights. Be amazed how relevant the work of Co van Ledden Hulsebosch still is for criminal investigations in the 21st century!

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• About the Author: The Work and Life of Co van Ledden Hulsebosch
• About the Translation and the Use of ChatGPT
• About the Authors of the Epilogues
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 My First Expertise
• 2 Treasure Hunt in the Ashes in a Stove
• 3 As an Expert for the Court in Ghent
• 4 Disappearance of a Batch of Diamonds
• 5 Peculiar Traces of Dust
• 6 Rice Powder
• 7 Sixty-seven Thousand Guilders in Securities Recovered
• 8 The Murder of the Notary C. S. in Gorinchem
• 9 A Political Attack?
• 10 Murder in the Celebesstraat
• 11 Theft at a Bank Solved by a Police Dog
• 12 He Had the Silent Witness “in Hand”
• 13 The Murder of the Cat Farmer
• 14 Shoe Wax
• 15 Amateur Snapshots as Evidence
• 16 “Visiting Cards”!
• 17 One Hair Made the Difference
• 18 Murder or Suicide?
• 19 Petty Thief
• 20 Simulated Robbery
• 21 Who Bears the Cost of the Damage?
• 22 Poison!
• 23 How the Mysterious Thefts in Professor Saltet's Laboratory Were Solved
• 24 A Lame Student Joke, for Which Heavy Penalties Were Paid
• 25 The Dishonest Postal Worker
• 26 How the First Lamp for Ultraviolet Ray Investigation Came to Our Country
• 27 The Treacherous Glass Splinter
• 28 The Corpse in the Suitcase
• 29 The Severed Head of a Woman
• 30 Dust Provided the Evidence
• 31 Assisting Criminal Justice in Belgium
• 32 The Anonymous Letter
• 33 Fine Sleuthing by Dogs!
• 34 The Murder of Tania Schovers
• 35 Bombs
• 36 Cigarettes with Water Damage
• 37 Ill-fated Bloodstains
• 38 Arsonists
• 39 To Whom Does This Pocketknife Belong? Whose Key Chain Is This?
• 40 The Pickpocket
• 41 He Had It in Writing
• 42 A Burglar with … a Brain
• 43 The Evidence-Providing Phonograph Cylinder
• 44 Restoration and Reconstruction of Documents
• 45 Charred Papers
• 46 Emergency Relief
• 47 Yellow Powder
• 48 “Souches,” or Physical Fits
• 49 What One Little Blood Spatter Proved
• 50 How the Stolen Jewels Were Recovered
• 51 Counterfeiters
• 52 The Clever Swindler
• 53 Faked or Actual Theft of Mail
• Epilogue