Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-03-06
CHAPTER II.

CdAf LEX Ii.
All business London, and a good
many other people besides, must re-
member the famous United States En-
pire bank fraud. Bonds had been
stolen and negotiated, vast sums of
money were discovered to be missing,
ors were absent also. So cleverly had
the affair been worked, and so f1aring
were the defalcations, that had it not
been for the public-spirited behavior
and generosity of two of the direct
ors, the position of the bank would
have been most seriously compromised,
If not shattered altogether. How the
culprits had managed to slip through
the fingers of the law in the first place
no one could say, but the fact remains
that they were able to get out of Eng
land without, apparently, leaving
trace of their intentions or their where
abouts behind them. Scotland Yard
took the matter up with its usual
promptness, and at first were con-
fident of success. They set their clev-
crest detectives to work upon it, and
u
had elapsed that the men engaged were
compelled most reluctantly to admit
their defeat. They had done their
best; it was the system under which
they worked that was to blame. In
the detection of crime, or in the trac-
ing of a criminal, it is best, as in every
other walk of life, to be original.
One morning on arriving Al my office
found a letter awaiting me from the
remaining directors of the bank, in
which they inquired if could make it
convenient to call upon them at the
head-office that day. To tell the truth,
] had been expecting this summons for
nearly week, and was far from be-
ing displeased when it came. The
work I had expected them to offer me
was after my own heart, and if they
would only trust the business to me
and give me free hand, 1 was pre-
pared on my part to bring the missing
gentlemen to justice.
Needless to say, called upon them
at the hour specified, and after brief
wait was conducted to the board room,
where the directors sat in solemn con-
claFe.
The chairman, Sir Walter Brace
bridge, received ME on behalf of his
colleagues.
We wrote to you, Mr.. Fairfax" be
said, Sin order to find out whe Their you
could help us concerning the diff
Guilty in which we find ourselves placed.
Rou of course are aware of the serious
trouble the bank has experienced, and
of the terrible consequences which
have resulted therefrom?"
admitted that was quite CONVEX
SAINT with it, and waited to hear what
he would have to say next.
"As matter of fact" he continued,
"we have sent for you to know wheth-
er you can offer us any assistance in
our hour of difficulty? Pray take
chair, and let US talk the matter over
and see what conclusion we can ar
rive at"
seated myself, and we discussed the
affair to such good purpose that, when
I left the board room, it was on the
understanding that I was to take up
the case at once, and that my expenses
and very large sum of money should
be paid me, provided l could manage
to bring the affair to successful ter
mination. / spent the remainder of
that day at the bank, carefully study
ing the various memoranda. A great
deal of what had read and heard had
been mere hearsay, and this it was
necessary to discard in order that the
real facts Of. the case might be taken
up, and the proper conclusions drawn
therefrom. For three days I weighed
the case carefully in my mind, and at
the end of that time was in position
to give the board definite answer to
their inquiries. Thereupon l left Eng
land, with the result that exactly IL
weeks later the two men, so much
wanted, were at Bow street, and l had
the proud knowledge of knowing that
! had succeeded where the men who
had tried before me had SO distinctly
failed.
AS will be remembered, it was case
that interested every class of society,
and press and public were alike united
in the interest they showed in it. 1t
is not, however, the trial itself as
much as another curious circums lance
connected with it that has induced me
to refer to it here. The case had
passed from the magistrates court to
the Old Bailey, and was hourly in