Beadle's Dime Library No. 628 — page 12: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

1 Joe Phenix’s Combine, ee Straight to the office of Archibald, Douglass | I am satisfied this story is a fraud from begin- and Douglass he proceeded. They had rooms in a corner building, one of the modern office palaces on lower Broadway, ning toend, and now, before I proceed further in the matter, I will say that I think the woman has no more claim to avy of the Engleburt money There were two entrances: one on Broadway | than I have!” another on the side street, and as the ground sloped from Broadway the side entrance was a story lower down than the main door. The elevator started from the basement, and Doctor Mairstone, going in at the Broadway en- sina entered the elevator as if; rose to the first | oor, The doctor had his wits about him. He was anxious to see if he was followed, yet very desir- | ous not to give the spy cause to suspect that he had any suspicions that a watch was placed up- | on him, so as he entered the building he took a sly glance over his shoulder.: As he expected the foreign-looking gentleman was in the crowd coming down Broadway, some twenty paces away. The doctor was just in time to catch the eleva- | tor, and after he entered the “lift” an idea came | to him by means of which he might throw the | spy off the track, The man would undoubtedly take a position on the first floor so that he would be able to wateb | both the stairs and the elevator, but as he would not expect to see him return under fifteen or twenty minutes at the least it was possible that he would not go promptly on guard, There were two elevators, running side by side, so Doctor Mairstone got off on the second floor, caught the other elevator coming down, and soon was landed in the basement, from whence he made his way out of the building by the side door without seeing anything of the spy. ‘““T have eluded him!” Mairstone cried in tri- umph, CHAPTER XV, GETTING AT THE TRUTH. AFTER the doctor got a block down the street, entangled in the hurrying crowd, he felt satis- fied that he had not made any mistake in believ- inz he had given the spy the slip, and he chuckled as he reflected what a wait the shadow would have, cooling bis heels in the corridor on the alert to mark his descent, The doctor proceeded to the Astor House, but took the trouble to double twice on his track on the way thither so as to make sure that he had succeeded in outwitting tae spy. There seemed to be no doubt of this though, for he did not catch sight of the foreign-looking individual again, nor did he see any otber sus- picious-appearing party. When he-arrived at the Astor House, Mair- stone went directly to the room occupied by the detective. Joe Phenix was in waiting, and listened at- tentively while Doctor Mairstone related the par- ticulars of his interview with the lawyer, and then described how he believed he had been watched, reiating how he had succeeded in throwing the shadow off the track, ** You have done well, doctor, and I believe ou must have a natural talent for this sort of usiness,” Joe Phenix remarked, jocosely. ‘* It was just mere accident,” the doctor ob- served. ‘* Tnat is, as far as the spy was con- cerned, for [ bad no notion that any game of the kind would be tried, and so I was not on the watch for it. ** Tf conscious guilt hadn’t shown out of the fellow’s eyes I should never have suspected that he was troubling his head about me.’ ‘There isn’t any doubt that your suspicions in regard to the matter are correct; you were shadowed,” the veteran thief-taker remarked. ** And that fact argues that although every- thing about this matter appears to be all right, yet there is a colored gentleman in the wood-pile, somewhere,” ‘‘T understand the inference you draw,” Mairstone observed, thoughtfully. ‘‘ If all was honest about the affair no one would think of employing a spy.” ‘Exactly! that is the point,” ‘*Yet, really, this lawyer talked as if he ra a everything was all right,” the doctor urge a Oh, he is square enough!” Joe Phenix de- clared. ‘I know Counselor Have of old; he is a good lawyer and will use all sorts of sharp tricks to win a case fora client, but I feel pretty certain that he would not descend to any under- hand work. ** He has been deceived by the parties who have arranged this game, and I do not wonder at it, for even an old, experienced man-hunter like myself, who has spent years in ferreting out just such plots, am not able to find a weak point in the story, except by inference.” ‘*T admit that as far asI can see the woman seems to have a remarkably strong case.” ‘Yes, it does look strong!’ the detective de- clared. ‘‘ Not a link in the chain, apparently, which will not bear testing. ‘Counselor Have is a shrewd, able man, as good a lawyer as thereis in the city, and in a case of this kind he is far better calculated to decide in regard to the merits of it than any of the high-toned lawyers, who make thousands where he makes hundreds; yet I am egotistical enough to say, right bere at the beginning, that | gerved, with a shake of the head, ‘**That is a bold statement,” the doctor ob- ‘** But [ know you well enough to understand that you know what you are talking about, and you must bave some ground to go on or else you would not make the declaration,” ** Well, in this matter I am acting on the in- stinct which comes from long experience,” the detective observed. ‘“‘It is in the same line with the apparently wonderful work which the Indian warriors and the white scouts are able to perform in the path- less wilderness, ** From signs which to their eyes are perfectly plain, and yet totally invisible to those who are pot trained in woodcraft, they are able to tell who has ap sya the ground, whether mount- ed or on foot, and often able to decide to within a few minutes of the time which has elapsed since the track was made,” ‘*'Yes, I have read of such things, and it seems almost marvelous until the circumstances are explained, and then itis plain that the results are due to the cultivation of certain natural powers,” ‘That is the idea! Itis like your profession, doctor,” the detective observed, ‘A _ patient tells you bis symptoms and from them your knowledge enables you to guess what is the matter with the sufferer and to prescribe a cure, ‘*Now in this case, I bave not thought the matter over—have not attempted to make a searcbing examination of each particular part, yet there is sometbing about the affair which convinces me, before | begin to make my exam- inations at all, that it is a deep-laid plot!” “IT comprehend how you arrived at the con- clusion although not sufficiently posted in your profession to understand bow you get at it.” ‘*T will take the case by detail,” the detective said, in his quiet, methodical way, sa In the first place, the employment of a spy to shadow you shows that there is something crooked about the affair. Honest people do not go to work in that fashion,” “That is certainly true!’ Doctor Mairstone declared, struck by the force of*the reasoning. ‘Yes, no doubt about that point. ‘‘Tt was known that an agent was expected by the lawyer from Engleburt. After his inter- view with the young man, although it was ap- parently so unsatisfactory, yet the calculation was made that after Engleburt had time tore- flect over the matter he would be likely to send some one to see just what the affair amounted to. ‘‘The parties were anxious to see what kind of an agent would come, for from thestyle of the man they could form some idea of how the game was going. “Tf a man of my stamp, a detective, came, then it would be certain that the young man not only intended to fight, but suspecting that there was something crooked about the affair, had made up his mind to be as ugly as pos- sible.” ** Yes, I see,” ‘“ Tf the party was from Archibald, Douglass and Douglass, then the natural surmise would be that a legal contest might be expected.” ‘* That is true.” ‘* But when you came—an inmate of the Engleburt mausion— young Engleburt’s con- fidential man of business—then the inference might be fairly drawn that the young man was wavering in his mind about the matter and that there was a good chance for a com- promise,” ‘‘ It seems to me that these conclusions are all fairly drawn,” Doctor Mairstone remarked reflectively. ** ‘You were watched after leaving the law- yer’s office, for the parties were anxious to see who you would consult about the matter, ; ‘* If the shadow had succeeded in discovering that you were in communication with me, then they would have been at once placed upon their guard and the task of hunting down the getters up of the game would have bests indeed much more difficult.” ‘* Well, [have not had much experience in this kind of business, you know,” the doctor re- marked. ‘* But the moment I suspected that a spy was on my track I understood that it was extremely necessary for the success of yeur plans that he should not get at the knowledge that I was in consultation with you.” ‘** You acted very prudently indeed,” the de- téctive remarked approvingly. ‘* And now that I have explain to you why the employ- ment of this spy suggests that there is crooked- ness at the bottom of the affair, I will proceed to see what [ can make of this array of proof. ‘* The way I[ arrange a thing of this kind is— first, the motive! “That is perfectly plain; there is a million or so of dollars which can be gained if the trick works successfully; the biggest stake, about, that I ever knew to be played for, and with such a prize in view it isnot a wonder that the parties are putting up a great game, ‘* Yes, the stake is a great one,and it, most certainly, is a colossal scheme.” ** Very true; the largest and the boldest that I have heard of in all my experience!” the de- tective declared, ‘* Now, I will commence right at the begin- ing. My way of getting at a game of this kind is to plan out in he own mind how I would work if I bad any such scheme to carry out.” The doctor nodded; the idea struck him as being a good one. “T will go back to the death of Abraham Engleburt,.’ Joctor Mairstone looked surprised, ‘“*It is my idea that be was murdered for the express purpose of allowing this woman to come forward and claim to be his widow.” Mairstone was struck by surprise, for this was totally unexpected. ‘** My heavens! if this is true the plot is a truly diabolical] one!” he exclaimed, ‘*' Yes, it is,” Joe Phenix replied, ‘ There is no mistake about the matter. The man who got up the plot is a fellow who possesses genius and skill—no common every-day rascal, and I have a suspicion that it is going tobe an extremely hard matter to trap him, unless he commits some error, ‘It is like a game of chess, you see,” the de- tective explained. ‘‘The man-hunter may be the better player, but he is obliged to give odds, so to speak, on account of working in the dark, and if his adversary does not make some false moves it is not possible for him to win,” ‘*T understand.” ‘‘It is plain to me already that I am opposed toa man this time who is a master-thief, as the Germans say. ‘“The scheme which he has conceived for boldness and originality surpasses anything of the kind that bas come to my knowledge. When the murder of the millionaire first. startled the town and I began an investigation for the purpose of discovering who had commit- ted the murder, I was beffled right at the begin- ning by the fact that I was not able to discover any motive for the murder.” ** Yes, [remember that you said as much io me at the time,” ‘“The money-king was not killed by any pri- vate enemy,” the detective remarked. ‘' He had enough foes, men who had attempted to compete with bim in his gigantic stock opera- tions and who had been ruthlessly crushed, but. none of them were of the stamp who would be apt to have anything to do with a crime of this sort. : ‘*He was not murdered by any midnight plunderers, for nothing was taken, and the man- ner of his taking off was so arranged that. the assassin thought there was a good chance it. would be believed he had taken his own life. ‘*Now, it goes without saying that all this trouble was not taken for nothing.” ‘* Decidedly not.” ‘‘But the motive? There was the hitch! L, puzzled my brains over the matter and was not able to solve the mystery,” Joe Phenix de- clared, ‘¢ As far as could be seen the only people who profited by Engleburt’s death were his children who inherited bis estate, ‘““Of course the supposition was monstrous that either one of the two could bave had a. hand in 80 unnatural e crime, and then ag in, the son and duughter had no idea that they would inherit the money, for the daughter had been often told by her father that in order to: protect her from fortune-bunters she would only receive a regular income at his death, and the son believed there was a will in ex- istence which tied up the estate as long as the law would allow; so there was no motive on their part.” : ‘Very true, but the fact remains that the millionaire was not killed by some one for the mere pleasure of killing,” the doctor re- marked. ** Not being able to find any motive for the crime was what hampered me in my search for the murderer. But as you just remarked, such a@ crime was not committed without a. ood and sufficient reason, and I had faith hat in time some move would be made by the assassin which would give me a elew to the motive.” ‘** And that move has now been made!” Mair- stone exclaimed, ‘Yes, and now I have something tangible to work on, “The scheme is a wonderful one, maguificent- ly planned and boldly executed, / ‘The first step was to murder the million- aire; the second to make it appear that be com- mitted suicide; that was to stop bloodhounds. like myself from inquiring into the murder.” ‘The first succeeded, but the second did not. ‘‘ That is true, but if there had not happened to bea man like yourself right at hand who. had sense enough to tse his eyes, the chances: are that it might have worked right,” Joe Phenix observed, ‘Still the failure of that part of the plan did: not give any clew to the murderer. ‘* Now the third step has been taken, Gomie 900 S KS.CO