Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 973

An Dungan's Double Drop: A Story of Detective Life in the Bowery

This detective serial by J. C. Cowdrick follows "Dunk Duncan," a young private detective, and his street scout partner Billy Block (Bantam Billy) in pursuit of escaped convict Kilgore Stiver through New York's Bowery underworld. Duncan captures Stiver but loses him when the fugitive's associates overwhelm him in a Bowery tenement; they handcuff both prisoner and detective together, then file through the restraints and escape. Duncan and Billy plan a stakeout operation: Billy will enter Toby Grimm's dive disguised as a bootblack seeking Jed Darby to scout Stiver's location, while Duncan poses as a tramp to provide backup. Billy successfully gains access to the establishment, convincing proprietor Grimm with a fabricated story about a Boston boxing match. The narrative establishes the criminal underworld's hierarchy and the detective work methods of the era.