The Poisoned Pen (From the Craig Kennedy series)

urke of the secret serv

is bluff way introduced a well-groomed and prosperous-loo

together when we can, and very often the city department can give the government service a lift, and the

w-backed hundred-dollar bill. He laid it flat on the table before us. Diagonally across its face f

of "shoving the queer," otherwise known as passing coun

they do with bills when they wish to preserve them as rec

anded Kennedy a pocket

ed the bill. He was abo

ous wallet again and la

which had been s

itten on his face, but before he could say anything, Burke laid

ting down the glass, "stop! How

all," he replied, "b

the government is counterfeiting its own notes! How much o

e more. "Of course I can't say exactly, but from hints I have received here and there I should th

salted away in some portable form. What an inventory it must be-good b

rought his fist down hard on the table with a resounding Irish oath, "the finger-print system, the infallible finger-print system, has gone to pieces. We've just imported this new 'portrait parle' fresh from Paris and London,

t," said Kennedy. "I can't diagnose yo

have some English bank-notes exchanged for American money. After he had gone away, the cashier began to get suspicious. He thought there was something phoney in the feel of the notes. Under the glass he noti

g on the wheel. He didn't seem to care about winning, and he cashed in each time with a new one-hundred-dollar bill. Of course he didn't care about winning. He cared about the change-that

bique Hotel-he had been stung with the fake Internation

race of him?" aske

ood loser and always paid with hundred-dollar bills. Now, you know women are NOT good losers. Besides, the hundred-dollar-bill story had got around among the gambling-houses. This joint thought it worth taking a chance, so they called me up on the 'phone, extracted a promise that I'd play fair and keep O'

Riverwood along the Hudson, and to a swell country house overlooking the river, private drive, stone gate, hedges, old trees, and all

o you think he owned up? Not a bit of it. He swore he had picked the notes up in a pocketbook on the pier as he left the steamer. I laughed. But when he was arraigned in court he told the magistrate the same story and that he had advertised his find at the time. Sure enough, in the files of the papers we discovered in the lost-and-found column the ad., just as he claimed. We couldn't even

ntal note of finding out more a

nnor prompted, "Tell t

o

to William Forbes, a noted counterfeiter, who, they understood, had sailed for South Africa but had never arrived there. They were glad to l

shadowed them ever s

It was said he was cranking the engine and that it kicked back and splintered

d t

t was said by the neighbours that Williams and Mrs. Williams-as they called themselves-had gone to visit a specialist in Philadelphia. Still, as they had a year's lease

ls to an Englishwoman who paid for it herself in crisp new one-hundred-dollar bills. The bank had returned them to him that very afternoon-counterfeits. I didn't lose any time ma

o help Burke. It was the same man, all right-I'll swear to that on a stack of Bibles. So will Burke. I'll never forget that snub nose-the concave nose, the nose being the first point of identification in the 'portrait parle.' And the ears

t that he was stumped, and he said so. "There are some points of agreement," he remarked, "but more p

dowing the house now and have been ever since then. But the next day after the last arrest, a man from New York, who looked like a doctor, made a visit. The secr

alked we could gather that something tragic must have happened

ust above Riverwood. It SEEMS Williams's car got stalled on the track just as the Buffalo express was due. No one saw it, but a man in a buggy around the bend in the road heard a woman scream. He hurried down. The train had smashed the car to bits. How the woman escaped was a miracle, but they found the ma

eh?" exclaimed O'Connor with evid

the little local hospi

ock and a f

s as he waited he said: "We must hold the woman. Hello, 297? The hospital? This is Burke of the secret service. Will you tell my man,

s dead, but we must get the rest. Mr. Kennedy, I'm sorry to have bothered you, but I guess we can handle this alone, after all. It was the finger-

t beginning to be interested. Does it occur t

oed Burke and O

bes be so foolish as to go about with a watch marked 'W. F.' if he knew, as he must have kno

is watch found on Williams. I suppose there is

et Wollstone goes away so willingly?" put in O'Connor.

here's a servant who goes in now and then, but the car h

that house myself for

ave no objection

ke. "I will go along with you if yo

I'll watch alone to-night and will see you in the morning

ked when they had gone. "How are you fi

engagement at the College C

cut

I intend to d

n old football sweaters under our overcoats. Half

ore those fellows. They'd think I was a dub. But I don't mind as

ow, noses are all concave, straight, or convex. This Forbes had a nose that was concave, Burke says. Suppose you were sent out to find him. Of all the people you met, we'll say, roughly, two-thirds wouldn't interest you. You'd pass up all with straight or convex noses. Now the next point to observe is the ear. There are four general kinds of ears-triangular, square, oval, and round, besides a number of other

" I asked rath

crime, and in the present instance I've just pride enough to stick to this thing until-until they begin

owing us. He pushed on, following the directions Burke had given him. The house in question was a large, newly built affair of concrete, surrounded by trees and a

parent, I thought, and I said so. Hardly had I said it when I heard the baying of a dog. It di

ardly think they would go away and leave a dog lo

pulled me along. We had seen not a sign of life in the house, yet he observed all the caution he would have if it had been well guarded.

uction-cup, which he fastened to the window-pane. Then with a very fine diamond-cutter he proceeded to cut out a large section. It soon fell and

Apparently the h

of library, handsomely furnished. At last the beam of light rested on a huge desk at the opposite end. It seemed to interest

o not realise the disruptive force that there is in a simple jimmy. I didn't until I saw the solid drawer with

n and cut in a flat oval shape, smelling of lysol strongly; several bottles, a set of sharp little knives, some paraffin, bandages, antisept

to ask questions, and I did not. Kennedy rapidly stowed away the things in his pockets. One bottle he opened and held to his nose. I could distinguish immediately the volatile s

d a tin box, one of those so-called strong-boxes which are so handy in that they save a burglar much time and trouble

nued to scrutinise the walls and corners of the room

room across the h

eam of a woman rang out

ne in the hous

t in the nefarious work of breaking and entering a dwelling-house at night. But it

ds that adjoined the estate on one side. Lights flashed in all the windows of the house at once. There must have been some

n carried from the house to the garage. As the door was unlocked I could see

s making for the station by a direct route across country instead of the c

once in his life thoroughly alarmed, "it

rd as we might, we could ne

d Kennedy, "but they are a

d in his pocket, and dre

foot, Walter

hen his with the ether. Then we doubled

our trail," panted Kennedy; "that is, if he is any g

if it had been open I am sure the station agent would have felt more like locking the door against two such tramps as we were, carrying a tin box and pursued by a dog, t

el near the station. Somehow we succeeded in getting a room without exciting suspicion. Hardly had the bellboy's footsteps ceased echoing

A few hundred dollars and a rope of pearls lay in it. It was a good "haul," but where was the va

snatch a couple of hour

stifling h

ff, still thinking about it and thinking that, even should they be captured, they might have sto

oused me by talking over the telephone in the

g had happened during the night at Riverwood, but he couldn't give a very clear

he descriptions of these people. I'm sure they will have to come into town to-day, and they wi

gured out that the counterfeiters would have to come into town for some reason or other. The incoming passengers were passing

' ought to come in, if ever," comm

after train emptied its human freight, yet the pale man with the concave

as long past the time when the counterfeiters should ha

one up to Montreal,

get it and leave New York after last night's events. We have failed-they have got by us. Neither the 'portrait parle' nor the ordinary photography nor any other system will suffice alone against the arch-criminal back of this, I'm afraid. Walter, I am sore and disgusted. What I should have

and I followed. In a secluded part of the waiting-room he sat down, his face drawn up in a scowl such as I had never seen. Plainly he was disgus

oat, he absently pulled out the little pieces of sponge an

tle knives in their case. I said nothing, for Kennedy was in a deep study. At last he put the things back into his po

himself. "I had forgotten that. What was the use of a pie

. "If you would tell me what the other th

of paraffin? Why, of course-I think I can guess what they have been doing-of course. Why, man alive, he walked right pas

ins to-morrow," he read. "Yes, I'll bet that's it. We don't have to know the safe deposit va

edy, what's all this lightning calculation? What possible connection is there between a

go next to work off some of the bills? The banks are on, the jewellery-houses are on, the gambling-joints are on. Why, to the racetracks, of course. That's it. Counterfeiters all use the bookmakers, only since racing has been killed in New York they hav

ready in fifteen

d abruptly, and started for th

e," he exclaimed as we ran plump

was a Western rancher; his broad-brimmed hat, long moustache, frock coat, and flowing tie proclaime

one side of his jaws to the other. "Now, tell me how your man escap

b-nosed peculiar-eared friend has. What do you think of the possibility of his goin

harply. "Say, do you add telepat

ing independently have arrived at the same conclusion. Come,

he train-announcer made his last call. Just then a taxicab pulled up at the street-end of the platform, not far from Tr

and I exclaimed disgustedly to Burke: "Well, if they are going to Lexingto

n saw that he was being watched and faced us defiantly, "Such imp

how us what's in that grip," said Kennedy

asted impudence? Get out of my way, sir,

Burke. "Surely you are getting in

arrest or not, Burke, as you choose. If not, I a

The man protested; the woma

in jail for this. Come on now to the nearest magistrate's court. I'll have my rights as an American citizen. You have carried your little joke too far. Knight is

ity that would follow such a mistake by the secret service than at anything els

chair as he could find in the judge's chambers, "what is the occasion

the way up from headquarters. Kennedy laid the Scotland Yard finger-prints on

ritain. Beside them are those of a man who succeeded in passing counterfeits of several kinds recently in New

As he came to the third, he raised his head as if abo

fingerprints of people taken fifty years ago that are exactly the same as their finger-prints of to-day. They don't change-they are pe

in grafting skin and in keeping muscles artificially alive for days under proper conditions. Could it be that a man had deliberately amputated his fingers and grafted on new ones? Was the stake sufficient

g and by injuries. Now, is there any method by which lost finger-tips can be restored? I know of one case where the end of a finger was taken off and only one-sixteenth inch of the nail w

he finger and flaps of skin are sliced off and turned up for the new end of the finger to develop in-a sort of shell of living skin. Inside this, the sponge is placed, not a large piece, but a very thin piece sliced off and cut

ot let it heal. In three days he pulls the sponge off gently. The end of the finger has grown up just a fraction of an inch. Then a new thin layer of sponge is added. Day after day this process is repeated, each

seemed to realise the thought in our min

to support the new finger-tissue that is developed. The meshes are filled in by growing tissue, and as it grows the tissue absorbs part of the sponge, which is itself an animal tissue and acts like catgut. Part of

, he decided to educate the tissue to grow out to cover it and appear like a normal finger. In these cases the doctors succeeded admirably in giving the patients entire ne

s man was playing a game in which there was indeed a heavy stake at issue. He was a counterfeiter sought by two governments with the net closing about him. What are the tips of a few fingers compared with life, liberty, wealth, and a beautiful woman? The first two

stranger, "but what has that to do with detaining my wif

by laying your fingers on this inking-pad and then lightly

mply. Kennedy glanced at the fourth set of prints, then at the third set taken a week ago, and

liams, the counterfeiter?

ed Kennedy. "You

glected to furnish you with photograp

t and laid it on the table. It bore the front face and profi

actually demanding this last piece of evidence. I had heard, however, that the Bertillon system of measurements often depende

arle" of Forbes, as it had first been described to us. Without looking further I involuntarily glanced a

of Forbes, of London. My nose is almost Jewish-my complexion is dark as an Arab's. Still, I suppose I am the sallow, snub-

Paris eluded the police very successfully until Dr. Charcot exposed him and showed how he changed the arch of his eyebrows a

have read in one of the papers this morning that a Mr. Williams was found dead in an automobile

ar to Riverwood, dressed in Williams's clothes with a watch that would show he was Forbes, placed on the track in front of the auto, whil

e and those from the London police card side by side. O

s fake detective should make fools out of us all and keep my wife longer in this court? I'm not disposed to let the matter drop. I wish to enter a charge again

wrath. He advanced menacingly toward Kennedy, who stood with his shoulders thr

inch of your life. 'Portrait parle,' indeed! It's a fine scientific system that has to d

, however. I had seen Craig do it dozens of times with the best boxers in the "gym." He simply jerked his head to one si

ce, and as he fell for

deliberately slap

's nose was quite out of joint, even from such a slight blow. It was

laid it on the table with the other exhibits, "don't forget that a concave nose built out to hook-nose convexit

his attention to the larger of Forbes's grips, which the Wollstone

ondike, and the Bureau of Engraving, all in one. Craig dumped the wealth out on the table-stacks of genuine bills, gold coins of two realms, diamonds, pearls

ly. "Gentlemen, you have here a master counterfeiter, surely-a ma