The Wizard King Detective; or, The Sharper Duke in Utah

# Catalog Note

The Sharper Duke in Utah by Lieutenant A. K. Sims opens Chapter I with the debut of Irene Imboden, an opera singer discovered on a Utah ranch, performing in Salt Lake City's theater. Her beautiful voice captivates audiences, though she uses an assumed surname professionally. A mysterious portly man—Major Marlton Mix, self-styled "Duke of Deseret"—watches from a private box with visible distress at her appearance. In Chapter II, Mix questions the actor Bloucher behind the scenes, learning the girl's background, then manipulates Bloucher with promises of a thousand dollars to help ruin her. Mix reveals a sinister plot: he will obtain a poisonous preparation to destroy her voice and acid to disfigure her face, ensuring she returns to obscurity. Though Bloucher hesitates, greed and coercion secure his reluctant cooperation. An amateur actor named Lanyard, the son of a church leader, has romantic interest in Imboden. OCR quality degrades toward the text's end.