Beadle's Dime Library No. 473

About this issue

This serialized detective story presents Nathan Gilbert, a celebrated New York private detective, at his office in an insurance building near Broadway. The narrative establishes Gilbert's character—a bearded, keen-eyed man of superior intellect, strong physique, and refined manner, known as "Gilbert of Gotham" and "The Steel Arm Detective." He is gradually retiring from active fieldwork, relying instead on skilled male and female assistants. Edmund Dillingsworth, an elderly wealthy gentleman, engages Gilbert at three hundred dollars per month plus expenses to investigate a criminal association. Dillingsworth, himself a millionaire worth six millions, explains his situation: he is mysteriously not master of his own will, though he insists he is mentally sound. His story involves his deceased father Ezra's estate of nearly ten millions, divided among three sons—Edmund, Charles (deceased six years), and Boniface. Boniface squandered his inheritance on pleasures, was rescued with a quarter-million dollars, and subsequently became a member of a religious order. Dillingsworth's narrative breaks off suggestively at this point.