Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1907-10-09
The Detective Genius.
tOriginal.l


the veteran detective, that go to
make success there Is one element we
usually leave out. It's luck. My
opinion is that It's nine-tenths of the
game. Napoleon, the great war gen.
ius, recognized this and had every con-
fidence 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
Is so without knowing 1t to be so.
made big reputation In my day,
my only aids being these two-lucK
and feeling The case that did me
most good and made my superiors
think | was a great detective were
brought about almost exclusively by
luck. was In government service
then and was sent out west to look
ND the perpetrators of some $l,OOO
counterfeit bills. ST. Louis was the
point the money was supposed to en-
anate from, and there | went. Thls
was the only pointer / had, and my
work was very much like looking TOT
needle in haystack.
A good way to get rid of these coun-
terfeits Of large denominations Is III
gambling houses where large stakes
are PLAYED for. There's too much ex-
element for people to scrutirlze any
thing closely. After spending several
days without even getting a suspicion
of a clew to work on / went one even
ing into gambling den. l didn't go
there to get a clew because l hadn I
then thought of the facilities such
nlaces afforded for distributing the
"oueer." went BECAUSE don
know what I went for. The place had
been recently opened, and the owner, a
respectable looking man, was dealing
faro. | watched the game for some
time. went out to the theater and came
back about half past II. Fact Is
was hungry and I'd heard that a fine
supper was set out after II. After
supper | lit a cigar and went to the
faro table. The game, which when l
had left 1t 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.
Tvc always been a bit Of gambler
myself. had no money to play with,
for l was ut the time drawing q small
salary and really had no funds Win
me except for ordinary expenses. Inc
truth Is that from the time had en-
tered the gambling place l had burned
to take a hand at the game. l had
torn myself away to the theater, ana
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 I looked on the more resistless
became my desire to try my luck.
had several of the $1,000 counterfeit
bills in my pocket and was tempted 10
make start in the game with one OF
them, but, besides the dishonor OF play
ing counterfeit money, suppose should
be detected using 1t. | could never ex-
plain the matter. 1t was unexplain-
able. Then the idea came into my
head that might claim l was work
ing In the line of my business, though
that would be pretty thin. Anyway, l
finally couldn't withstand the tempta-
ton any longer and, pulling out one OF
the bills, slapped 1t on the 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 a
mans face. Then he asked as calmly
as d sucking dove:
"How much standsT
give hundred" | said.
The cards were dealt, and the big
square won. was handed five 500
bills, four of which I showed In my
pocket with the counterfeit, putting
the other on the game. | soon lost all
I had won and, realizing the risk had
run, left the house.
On the street man spoke to me.
"I,e mn" he said. There's been de-
tectives sent out from Washington;
probably in town now"
1t didn't take me six months to dis
cover that I'd struck something pretty
big. though hadn't the remotest idea
of an explanation
"All right" | said What's the next
move?"
Don't know set. Who put you on?
"You keep your end to yourself, and
I'll keep mine"
"What were you up to. anyway.
shown the bill"
I remembered the curious look OF
the dealer when I'd made my bet, and
ray of light began to break In on
me. The faro bank must be distribut-
ing point. Persons supplied with the
bills would come in, bet them and
they would be paid out - winners
who, If they discovered the counter
felt, would be chary of making
charge that would be confession that
they had been gambling.
I'm only telling you this story to u
lustrate what luck will do for q man
How l proved my suspicious and nab
bed the whole gang is story In 1t.
self and one In which l take some
pride, but that was dead easy In com
. parison with getting clew where
there was no clew in sight. When |
offered the bill, not knowing me, the
dealer showed surprise. When l went
out he sent one of the gang after rue
to make discoveries, supposing ] had
been supplied with the bills to pass In,
but not understanding my movements.
The fellow he sent gave the whole
thing away. Instead Of being tried
for swindling. as | should have been,