Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 844

# The Great Trunk Mystery

by Harold Payne (author of "The Thad Burr" novels), Chapter I–II

A well-dressed man named Jules Revere registers at the United States Hotel in Chicago, pays for two days' lodging in advance, then departs. A heavy zinc-covered trunk arrives addressed to him. After four days, hotel staff detect a foul odor emanating from it; police discover the nude corpse of a middle-aged, well-built man inside. No violence marks the body, and autopsy reveals no poison. Identity and cause of death baffle authorities.

Detective Thaddeus Burr, passing through Chicago, agrees to investigate. He deduces the trunk is Chicago-made and has seen little travel; grease-paint residue suggests theatrical ownership. Burr discovers a crumpled envelope addressed to Stephen B. Langford at the Southern Hotel, St. Louis, bearing a New York diamond merchant's card. Telegraphic inquiries confirm Langford purchased diamonds from the merchants, had them shipped to St. Louis, and hailed from Los Angeles. Burr theorizes Langford is the murdered victim, killed for the diamonds, and that Jules Revere is the murderer.