Two little children found dead in a span of days - the Adrian Lim ritual murders case in 1981 shocked the nation and left parents fearful that their children could be next.
The task of solving the case fell squarely onto the shoulders of Mr S. K. Menon, who was then head of the police CID Special Investigation Section.
"In all my years as a police officer, I never came across anything like this," the 78-year-old retired policeman told The Straits Times recently.
In the end, it was a few drops of blood on the floor of Lim's kitchen and a slip of paper - with both the victims' names - wedged inside his telephone book that did the murderer in, said Mr Menon.
"We knew then that was the man," he said.
The case is one of 25 stories in a new e-book by The Straits Times and the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
It was launched yesterday at the Capitol Theatre as part of the SPF's SG50 Pioneer Appreciation Nite event, which celebrates the contributions of veteran cops.
Titled Guilty As Charged, it contains never-before-seen pictures from ST and police archives.
The tales span decades, from the Sunny Ang murder in 1965 to the Downtown East Gang slashings in 2010.
"Here you have 25 fascinating crime stories which actually played out in Singapore, with insights from the men who solved them. You won't be able to put this e-book down," said The Straits Times Associate Editor (News) Rahul Pathak.
For many former cops such as Mr Menon, the cases detailed in the e-book were a sign of more tumultuous times.
Mr Menon joined the police force in 1956 and spent 38 years in uniform, and he has seen it it all - crimes from armed robbery to rape and murder.
And today's men-in-blue are a far more advanced force than in his day, said Mr Menon.
Recounting a time when officers had to lug around pagers that "weighed a quarter-kilo", he said: "As a policeman last time, you needed to know where the (public) phones were. After you make an arrest, you must run to call for back-up."
Now officers carry advanced gadgets that allow them to communicate with command centres at a moment's notice.
"Last time, we had bicycle patrols, now we have cars, land rovers... Mobility and communications are very fast now," he said.
•The e-book can be downloaded through The Straits Times STAR E-books app.
1. Download "The Straits Times Star" via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
2. Open the app and go to "I'm just browsing".
3. Download "Guilty As Charged".
