Gaston Means
Gaston Bullock Means was an American private detective, salesman, bootlegger, forger, swindler, murder suspect, blackmailer, and con artist.
Gaston Bullock Means was born in Concord, North Carolina, the son of William Means, a reputable lawyer. He was also a greatnephew of Confederate General Rufus Barringer. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1903, became a schoolteacher, then a travelling salesman. His life avocation, however, was that of a confidence trickster. J. Edgar Hoover once called him the most amazing figure in contemporary criminal history because of his ability to weave a believable, albeit fraudulent, story. In 1911, he talked himself into a job with a New York detective firm where he created reports that contained so many clues that they must either be investigated further or denounced utterly. His reputation spread. On the eve of World War I, he was asked to further Germanys interests in the thenneutral United States. He uncovered plots and counterplots rife with secret documents and skulking spies, all of which required investigation at his usual rate of 100 per day. After America decla
Source: Wikipedia