Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 608

"Double-Curve Dan's Double Play" by George C. Jenks. Albany in July: local hotelier Richard Scott and his associate Slicker Walker conspire at the American House to steal diamonds kept by a boy upstairs, while plotting to fix an upcoming baseball game between the Diamond Stars of New York and the Albanys for $5,000 in wagered money. Scott, a pitcher for the Albanys, agrees to throw the game in exchange for $500. A disreputable associate named Barker, described as having done bank work previously, arrives with hidden competence beneath his ragged disguise. Later that night, Norah O'Connor, a hotel dining-room employee, strikes Barker violently when he attempts to kiss her; he draws a knife to kill her, but is stopped by a thrown baseball. The attacker is revealed as Double-Curve Dan, the Pitcher Detective, watching from his third-floor window. By 2 a.m., Slicker and Barker prepare to steal the diamonds from the adjoining room using a bull's-eye lantern.