The Tramp Shadower's Backer

# Museum Catalog Note

"The Tramp Shadower's Backer; Or, Unraveling the Umbrella Clue" by Harold Payne, a detective mystery serial appearing in the July 18, 1894 issue.

Detective Burr is summoned to Newtown, Long Island to investigate the death of an eccentric, reclusive woman, Mrs. James, found murdered in her kitchen. Her cottage has been ransacked—furniture overturned, trunks broken open, mattresses ripped. She bears stab wounds to the back. A local detective, Crosby, theorizes robbery as the motive, yet a purse containing over two thousand dollars remains untouched on the mantel. The victim, who lived isolated for five years with no apparent income source, occasionally received visits from two well-dressed men—a young, handsome man and an elderly, military-looking gentleman. No papers or written documents exist anywhere in the house. After Crosby exhausts his investigation without finding clues, Marshal Gibson requests the city detective Burr attempt the case, prompting Crosby's resentful skepticism.