CHI AGO p LICE - Chicago Cop.com

"A nd he talked out of the side of hismouth . .. with his lips real tight.""Yes, the way he talks can definitelymean he was an ex-con. They haveperiods of 'no-talk,' and they get usedto speaking with their mouths closed.""And he was agile . .. fast.""Sounds like he could have been aprizefighter.""Yeah, he could have been. He hada set of shoulders on him like a fighter,and big hands . . . huge hands."His sketchesand photosof the criminals.During sketching sessions, the eraserin the artist's left hand is used as muchas the pencil in his right. Ears are shortened,lips narrowed, noses broadened."Did he have lines on his forehead?""I'm not sure . . . I just can't remember.""Then we won't draw it in. I don'twant to put anything in that you didn'tsee,"Accuracy is very important. Rathelprefers to discard a sketch if he feels itto be inaccurate-many witnesses cannotremember clearly enough.And the artist remembers several occasionswhen the witness purposely gavean inaccurate description. One man inparticular spent over an hour in asketching session, but by the time theinterrogation had ended, it was obviousto Rathel that the man was not tellingthe truth."His description was that of a primate,"said Rathel."You can tell about a person by whathe says. I remember coming home andasking my daughter how many cookiesshe had eaten from the cookie jar andshe'd say 'Daddy, how did you know?You've been at work!' ... she incriminatedherself."Rathel is married and has two daughters,17 and 18, and two extensionphones. He also has a studio in hishome where he works if and when hefinds the time. Portraits are his specialty.At various times, he has sketched membersof the Department.The police artist has also completedthe first of a unique series of line drawingson bullfighting. He has drawn thebone structure and action lines of hisfigures with white ink or crayon overa black background and then outlinedthe subject with a thick, white line. Heplans to do a second series on musiciansand when completed, the entire set willbe silkscreened.Rathel is also in the process of studyingthe imbalance of facial features. Theofficer has already split several negativesof faces and succeeded in creatingentirely new faces by reconnecting tworight or two left sides of the head."The results could be useful to myself,to art students and possibly helpfulin determining national origins byphotographs," he explained."How old would you say the robberwas?""About 30 or 35.""What would you guess my age tobe?""But you have grey hair already.""I've been grey since I was 17.""Well, about 40 ... 42, 43.""43 on the nose."And then the sketch was finished.Rathel propped up the drawing pad ona file cabinet a few feet away."That's him. That's your man!""That's a face I've seen before too,"Rathel said quietly. "The more I drew,the more I knew I'd seen him somewherebefore. Doesn't he look familiar,Sarge?"The artist turned to the sergeant whohad accompanied the witness."Yep, I've seen that dog before.""It'll be in the Daily Bulletin tomorrow.Let's hope one of the district menrecognizes him.""Good-by and thanks. I hope thatsketch I described will help.""It will, it will. Good-by."A few minutes later, another headappeared around the corner of the filecabinet. A plain white piece of paperand a pencil were dropped on top ofRathel's metal desk."Hey Otis? Would you take a minuteto draw a picture of a cake with onecandle? It's Charlie's birthday." *AUGUST, 1965 17