Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-02-27


ty was necessary to discover the
CRIMINALS. / soon found that this was
a business at which was likely to
De successful. More than once / had
the good fortune to be able to bring
TO book men who had carried on their
trade Tor years, and who had been
entirely unsupported. Eventually my
reputation in this particular line of
! business became noised abroad, until
1T came to the ears of the commits
sioner himself. Then news reached
US that dastardly murder had been
committed in the suburbs of Bris-
bane, and that the police were una Bile
TO obtain any clew as to the identi-
ty of the person accountable for it..
Two or three men were arrested on
suspicion, but were Immediately dis
charged on being in position to give
a satisfactory account of their ac-
lions on the night of the murder. 1t
struck me that l should like to take
up the case, and with the confidence
of youth l applied to the commits
sioner for permission to be allowed
to try my hand at unraveling the
mystery. What they thought of my
impudence I cannot say, but the fact
remains that my request, after being
backed up by my inspector, was
granted. The case was particular
ly complicated one, and at one time
was beginning to think that 1
should prove no more successful than
the others had been. In the end,
however, came upon the murderer,
who, seeing himself very neatly
trapped, placed revolver to his right
temple and, before I could prevent
him, pulled the trigger.
AT the conclusion OF this case I re-
signed my position in the police of the
northern colony, and joined the detec-
tive staff in Melbourne, seeing in their
service good deal of queer life and
ferreting out not small number of
, extraordinary cases. The experience
gained there was invaluable, and led
me, after one particularly interesting
/ piece of business in which l had the
good fortune to be most successful, to
entertain the notion of quitting gov
- A1ANNiAS SAaHioS hltoSStlSI, ana SeU-
ting up for myself. did so, and soon
had more work upon my hand than
could very well accomplish. But
was too ambitious to be content with
small things, and eventually came to
the conclusion that there was not
enough scope in the colonies for me.
After Is years absence, therefore, L
returned to England, spending year
in the further east en- route in order
to enlarge my experience, and to quail
lily myself for any work that might
come to me from that quarter.
On a certain bitterly cold day in
January l reached Liverpool from the
United States, and took the train for
my old home. My father and mother
had long since died, and now all that
remained to me of them was the stone
slab that covered their resting place in
the quiet little churchyard at the foot
of the hill.
"Well, here am" 1 said to myself,
"33 years old and alone in the world.
Nobody knows me in England, but it
won't be my fault if they don't hear of
George Fairfax before very long. I'll
be off to London and try my fortune
there"
Next day | made my way to the
great metropolis, and installed myself
at small private hotel, while 1
looked about me preparatory to COM
mencing business. To talk of gaining
footing in London is all very well in
its way, but it is by no means so easy
task to accomplish as it might ap-
pear. Doubtless it can be done fairly
quickly if one is prepared to spend
large sums of money in advertising,
and is not afraid to blow ones own
trumpet on every possible occa-
sion, but that is not my line,
and besides, even had so wished,
I had not the money to do it.
For multitude of reasons | did not
feel inclined to embark my hard
earned savings on such risky enter
prise. Ipreferred TO make my way by
my own diligence, and with that end
in view rented an Office in con-
venient quarter, furnished it, put a
small advertisement in few of the
papers, and then awaited the coming
of my clients.
AS I have long and curious story
to tell, and this book is only intended
to be the narration of certain episode
in my life, detailed description of
my first three years in London would
not only be superfluous, but in every
way a waste of time. Let it suffice that
my first case was that of the now
notorious Pilchard street diamond
robbery, my success in which brought
me business from well-known firm in
Hatton Gardens. As the public will
doubtless remember, they had been
robbed of some valuable gems between
London and Amsterdam in singular
ly audacious manner. My second was
the case of the celebrated Russian
swindler, who called herself Countess
Demikoff. This case alone took me
nearly six months to unravel, but I
did not grudge the time. seeing that I
was well paid for my labors, and that
managed to succeed where the police
had failed. From that time forward 1
think may say without Boosting that
hava haar f,,l