Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 786

# Chicago Charlie's Diamond Dash: Trapping the Tunnel Thieves

This 1898 dime novel by Lieutenant A. K. Sims features Chicago Charlie, a Columbian Detective investigating theft and death at the World's Fair. The story opens with a disturbance aboard an Illinois Central train carrying Zulu warriors en route to the Chicago Exposition. A confused countryman named Uncle Steve Mayfield accidentally provokes the armed warriors, nearly causing a riot before being ejected by the conductor.

Two days later, Mayfield arrives at an exhibition hall to discover his nephew Sidney Mayfield dead in the diamond room of the David Davenish & Co. display. A bottle containing a violent poison lies nearby. Chicago Charlie, the investigating detective, initially suspects murder despite the apparent suicide setup, while a physician summoned to the scene concludes it is poisoning. The narrative establishes the mystery: whether Sidney's death resulted from suicide or deliberate homicide.