New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1908-08-26
A LESSON IN
DETECTIVE WORK.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
IOrieinaL1


tective line? I was put in it by a
singular coincidence. / had no more
idea Of being detective than being
president of the United States. never
developed any fancy for such work,
never read detective stories or took
any interest in the methods Of how
real cases were managed. What did
hear of such matters they filed me with
belief that this business of noticing
how far match was burned or which
end Of cigarette was lighted first to
gain a clew had nothing to do with
tracing criminals. 7 70 - {.
One day was in street car going
home from bank where was en-
ployed on a fairly good salary when
saw man tumble In his pocket for
change to pay his fare. A few min
utes later a woman picked up folded
bill off the floor and handed it to him,
He unfolded it, cast glance at it,
paled slightly and handed it back to
her in hurry, denying the ownership.
The woman asked one or two people
sitting near if they had dropped it, but
they all said they thought they had
not / asked the woman to let me see
it. 1t didn't take me long, backed by
it was counterfeit.
This was the first time ever showed
a faculty for detective work. noticed
that no one showed any unusual emo
ton in looking at the bill except the
man who was supposed to have drop
ped it; therefore there was proba~
bility that he was counterfeiter, But
| said nothing, simply handing it back
| to the woman. 80 sssszs5s:
! But my curiosity had been aroused.
Curious to follow up the matter, when
the man who had paled got out / got
out, too, and followed him at dis
lance: he entered a hardware store,
where he purchased several articles.
didn't know what they were, but one
of them was a hammer with a big end
/ Suitable for beating anything fat.
Another was crucible for melting
metals. When he went out snatched
the bill he had paid the salesman, ex-
pecting to see counterfeit, but in this
was disappointed It was good
money.
Well, tracked the fellow to room
at the top Of business building,
where he had shop. l knocked at
the door. He opened it, but did not bid
me enter. told him / had something
to say to him and wished to go inside
He said he was making certain con-
trivance that was not yet patented and
no one was allowed to enter the prem
ises where the work was done.
Mind you, / was no detective I was
merely INDUCING my curiosity. A
detective would have gone away and
come again prepared to act as an Off
Ger Of the law. I simply accused the
man of counterfeiting stating what /
had seen in the car.
He stood looking at me few mo-
ments appalled,, then said, whats
Mol Brown going to give you for help
ing her?''
Il don't know Mol Brown" re-
piled, land I'm in no ones employ in
this matter. I'm only doing it for
fun
Come in here and satisfy yourself, :"
he said
I went in and found an article for
sweeping floors manufactured and in
process of making. Then he explained:
"Moll Brown was the woman who
tried to fix the counterfeit bill on me.
/ I was intimate with her once and was
to have married her, but I found out
she was bad and shook her. She's
sworn to have her revenge
Resolved to follow the matter up,
took Mo1l Browns address. felt sure
she had got the counterfeit bill from
some one interested in making or pass
ing 1t, or both, and couldn't refrain
/ from getting at the bottom of the mat
ter. I cooked up a reason for making
i her acquaintance and went to see her.
4 At this point I began some real de-
tectiye work. I got her confidence and
told her that I was looking for some
easy way of making money. After a
good deal of beating about the bush
she agreed to tell me where / could
get some queer to put out and gave
me the address of the man had shad-
owed. didn't want any better proof
i of his story. She was bent on his ruin
and would have included me il it suit
ed her convenience. delayed about
i going to the man she named and con-
tinued to watch her.
Accident helped me. One evening
when visited her q man called on her
whom spotted at once. I went away,