The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-06-25
A Detectives
Singular
Experience
He Located His Quarry, but
Lost the Game
By HELEN ATwATER
:s....ss................,

By HELEN ATWATER :
esesosossOsooS
"Mr. Hawkins" said my chief, "yol
have the name of being the slickest de
tective on the staff. l wish you to try
to catch the slickest adventures the
country has ever been troubled with
She has called herself Mrs. wainwright
Miss Thorpe, Margaret vane, and it Ii
suspected that she has masqueraded as
man calling herself Edgar Martin
dale"
What crimes has she committed?"
That's secret. We are employed
to produce her by private party who
agrees as soon as she is In our power
to furnish the necessary papers to hole
her. What we are expected to do is t.
catch her. and there is a good $4,000
for doing it. Now, I'll tell you what
I'll do. If you snare her III give you
the lions share. $4,000"
Il suppose you have located her"
~ have. A telegram has come from
an agency in Chicago stating that she
was seen in that city yesterday, and by
my order a shadower has been put OF
the case with instructions to keep hel
in sight till we can send man there
to pounce upon her. / wouldn't trust
one of their men, for / believe she
would be too sharp for him. Besides
xTvfl1 30 4,1ar
we can trust not to put us in position
antagonistic to the law"
81 see." l replied, and after some
more talk as to details l left the office
and that evening was speeding on a
train to Chicago.
l will call my quarry Margaret Vane
since that is the most attractive of her
various aliases. The morning l reach
ed Chicago | reported at the detective
agency that had put the shadower on
her, and a man was sent with me to
the house where she was staying, a
family hotel. where on looking over the
register I found her entered as Mrs
Thorpe l asked the clerk if a Mr.
Rowland was staying at his house
and when he said no l told him that
had come there to meet him and that
presumed he would appear either thu
day or the next. That gave me an ex
cuse to go to the hotel frequently and
loiter about there if l found it expedi
ent to do so.
There was no photograph Of the lady
to be had, and my first work must be
to locate her among the guests.
didn't care to make an arrest In fact,
l could not well do so without requisi-
ton papers, which l had not / must
proceed very differently. Indeed, |
could form no plan, but must be guild
ed by circumstances. l had a descrir
ton Of the woman l was after, and
the first one l spotted turned out to
be the lady herself. call her the lady
because to look at her and on hearing
the well bred modulated tones of her
voice no one would take her for any
thing else. She was about twenty-five
years old, comedy and either to the
manner born or had the faculty of per
sonating one who was. 1t occurred to
me that the work I was engaged in
might be dangerous. / couldn't get 1t
out of my head that she was not an adj
ventures, but typical lady. l did
not wonder that the chief had admon-
ished me to exercise caution.
kept Miss Vane under my eye ex-
cept in the middle of the night by put
ting a woman in the hotel to post me
at the slightest sign of any intended
move The day after my arrival my
watcher told me that my quarry had
been visited during the day by a gen
tleman of professional cut She ha
followed him when he went away, and
he had gone to a law Office. Inquiry
about him there resulted In discovering
that he was the junior partner Of the
arm of Whitney. Johnston & Gregory
l lost no time in finding out the
standing of the firm and learned that
they were not criminal lawyers, but
did q general law business of the most
respectable kind. What they coul6
have to do professionally or otherwise
with a woman whom had understood
was wanted for some heinous offense
was at loss to imagine. Mr. Greg
looking young man, and l thought it
possible. even probable, that she had
got him under her thumb, as / infer
red she had got other men under her
thumb, and despite the fact that he
was lawyer would relieve him Of his
surplus cash.
My spy reported a day or two after
l reached Chicago that Miss Vane had
called for her bill. Where she was go
ing was not known, but felt it neces-
sary to remain at her hotel that night
till the last train had left for any
where and be there in the morning in
time to take the first. The lady did not
depart that night, but about in the
carrying only a light suit case.
she took a carriage. l called another
and followed her to the Union station.
l was next in line behind her when
she bought a ticket. which was for
Philadelphia. and | purchased one for
the same place. l was delighted at the
get her nearer home Shortly before
the train started a young man came
into the car where she was and where
l had followed her and up to the time
the train left they were engaged in
earnest conversation. had not seen
Gregory. but he had been infinitely de
scribed to me. and was sure this per-
son was he and that he was giving her
Instructions on legal matters in which
she was deeply interested.
When he left her I saw their hands
inger in a clasp and believed that the
was playing him. She nodded
another goodby to him from the win
dow, and he turned just before they
lost sight of each other and threw her
A kiss. From the moment of his de
parture her face took on a troubled
look, but 1t was nothing compared with
the agonized expression that came over
it when her glance lighted on me. The
start she gave led me to believe that,
having seen me at the hotel and being
hunted, she had at once as
sumed that was after her. At any
rate | did not believe that she had
been warned against me, though as to
this was by no means certain.
l was sorry to be the cause of so
much dread in an attractive girl who.
for all surely knew to the contrary.
might be perfectly innocent Of any
But remembered how
deceptive criminals are. what nerve
they have, and l was puzzled to under
stand why this one gave herself away
so plainly at the sight of detective
Perhaps it was this that affected me.
Not that had much pity. The $4,000
| was to receive for her capture coun-