Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-05-13
The Detective Genius.
[Original.l

the veteran detective. that 80 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-
tidence in his star Of destiny. That
star went down eventually and left
him III the dark like other people. The
next best thing to luck I consider In
tuition. or the feeling that something
Is so without knowing 1t to be so.
l 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 l was Il great detective were
brought about almost exclusively by
luck I 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 l went. This
was the only pointer l had, and my
work was very much like looking for
a needle in a 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 ex-
element for people to scrutinize any
thing closely. After spending several
days without even getting a suspicion
Of a clew to work on went one even
ing into a gambling den. l didn't go
there to get cleW because l hadn't
then thought Of the facilities such
places afforded for distributing the
queer" went because-I don't
know what went for. The place had
been recently opened. and the owner. a
respectable looking man. was dealing
faro. l watched the game for some
time, went out to the theater and came
back about half past II. Fact is l
was hungry and Id heard that fine
supper was set out after II. After
supper I lit a 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 run Of bad luck.
I've always been Il bit of gambler
myself. l 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 l had en-
tered the gambling place l had burned
to take hand at the game. l had
torn myself away to the theater, and
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 resistless
became my desire to try my luck.
had several of the $1,000 counterfeit
bills in my pocket and was tempted to
make start in the game with one of
them, but, besides the dishonor of play
ing counterfeit money, suppose l should
be detected using it. could never ex-
plain the matter. 1t was unexplain-
able. Then the idea came into my
head that l might claim I was work
ing in the line of my business, though
that would be pretty thin. Anyway,
finally couldn't withstand the tempta-
ton any longer and, pulling out one Of
the bills, slapped it on the big square
to win.
The dealer started. It was natural
that he should start. Thousand dollar
bills weren't plentiful, though l had
caught sight of two or three during the
evening changing hands. One winner
had seen paid one by the bank. Still,
coppering with one was unusual. The
dealer looked at me with the most
curious expression I ever saw on a
mans face. Then he asked as calmly
as sucking dove:
"How much stands?'
give hundred" said.
The cards were dealt, and the big
square won. | was handed five 500
bills, four of which l showed in my
pocket with the counterfeit, putting
the other on the game. l soon lost all
l 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-
g,
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. whats the next
move"
Don't know yet. Who put you on:'
"You keep your end to yourself, and
I'll keep mine"
what were you up to, anyway.
shown the biIl?"
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 a distribut-
ing point. Persons supplied with the
bills would come in. bet them and
they would be paid out to winners
who, if they discovered the counter
felt, would be chary of making 4
charge that would be a confession that
they had been gambling.
I'm only telling you this story to H.
lustrate what luck will do for man.
How l proved my suspicious and nab
bed the whole gang is a story in it.
self and one in which take some
pride, but that was dead easy in COM
parison with getting Il clew where
there was no clew In sight. When
dealer showed surprise. When l went
out he sent one of the gang after me
to make discoveries, supposing ! had