Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1907-09-27
The Detective Genius.

s The Detective 0enluS. s.
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In summing up those things. said
the veteran detective, that go to
make success there is one element we
usually leave out It's luck. Ny
opinion is that it's nine-tenths of the
game. Napoleon. the great war gen
ius, recognized this and had every con-
adence In his star of destiny. That
star went down eventually and left
him In the dark like other people. The
next best thing to luck consider IN
tuition, or the feeling that something
q 20 without knowing 1t to be 80.
made a big reputation in my day,
my only aids being these two-luck
and feeling. The case that did me
most good and made my supertors
think I was great detective were
brought about almost exclusively by
luck. was In government service
then and was sent out west to look
up the perpetrators Of some $1,000
counterfeit bills. st. Louis was the
point the money was supposed to en-
anate from, and there went This
was the only pointer I had, and my
work was very much like looking Tor
q needle in haystack.
A good way to get rid Of these coun-
terfeits of large denominations is in
gambling houses where large stakes
are played for. There's too much e1-
element for people to scrutinize any
thing closely. After spending several
days without even getting suspicion
of q clew to work on went one even
ing into a gambling den. I didn't go
there to get a clew because hadn't
then thought Of the facilities such
places afforded for distributing the
"Queer." I went because-I don't
know what went for. The place had
been recently opened, and the owner,
respectable looking man, was dealing
faro. I watched the game for some
time, went out to the theater and came
back about half past II. Fact Is l
was hungry and I'd heard that fine
supper was set out after II. After
supper 1 lit cigar and went to the
faro table. The game, which when l
had left it early in the evening was
small, had grown very large. l no.
ticed several piles before different
players to indicate that the bank was
having a run Of bad luck.
I've always been bit of 9 gambler
myself. had no money to play with,
for was at the time drawing a small
salary and really had no funds with
me except for ordinary expenses. The
truth is that from the time had en-
tered the gambling place had burned
to take a hand at the game. I had
torn myself away to the theater, and l
question If my return was not as much
due to the fascination the game had
for me as the supper At any rate, the
longer l looked on the more reslstless
became my desire to try my luck. l
had several of the $1,000 counterfeit
bills in my pocket and was tempted to
make a start in the game with one OF
them, but, besides the dishonor Of play
ing counterfeit money, suppose should
be detected using it. could never ex-
plain the matter. 1t was une2pla1n-
able. Then the idea came into my
head that l might claim l was work
ing in the line of my business, though
that would be pretty tain. Anyway,
finally couldn't withstand the tempta-
ton any longer and, pulling out one OF
the bills, slapped it on tie big square
to win.
The dealer started 1t was natural
! that he should start. Thousand dollar
bills weren't plentiful, though had
caught sight Of two or three during the
! evening changing hands. One winner
| I had seen paid one by the bank. Still
| coppering with one was unusual. The
dealer looked at me with the most
curious expression ever saw on q
mans face Then he asked as calmly
as a sucking dove:
"How much standsY'
give hundred" said.
The cards were dealt, and the big
bills, four Of which I showed in my
pocket with the counterfeit, putting
the other on the game. soon lost al
I had won and, realizing the risk had
run, left the house.
On the street man spoke to me
LET up," he said. '"There's been de
tectives sent out from Washington
probably In town now"
1t didn't take meSsix months to dis
cover that I'd struck something pretty
big. though l hadn't the remotest ides
Of an explanation.
mover
Don't know yet. Who put you on 2
"YOu keep your end to yourself, an(