The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-07-11
A Detective
Story
b. ALBERT KENYON

Ill Oy 0A0G1\1 Ill
What makes the detective business
90 fascinating il that it is a perpetual
puzzle. Then there are 80 many in
genious methods Of perpetrating swim.
dies and c~opcealing all kinds Of crime.
A detective never knows when he Is
going to light on q new and ingenious
device.
But 1t is not in such cases that /.
now twenty years a detective. have
found the keenest relish. The MUIR
derer is not in a condition Of mind to
think out a problem coolly. he Is In
an abnormal condition. For my part
l could never understand how any one
could commit a crime the discovery Of
which would bring a dreadful punish
ment. Nevertheless criminals often
work out very intricate problems.
1t is when two or three persons above
the average In the social scale and in
education conspire together that the
most ingenious devices develop. Per
haps this Is because each gives the
other courage. That Is what makes
hunting down a gang Of counterfeiters
so interesting. They are usually intell-
gent men and work together. Yet there
is one thing they all lose sight Of or
disregard-the fact that they are al
ways caught in the end.
The most interesting surprise l ever
encountered was In unearthing one of
these counterfeiting gangs. say sur
prise, for 1t was 90 credit to me that
I made the discovery. Indeed. had ]
not made a criminal of myself l should
lever have got on to them. I was put
on the case in this way: Some counter
felt twenty dollar bills were being put
into circulation. They seemed to come
to the surface in a small town In Kan
cas- and drift eastward. At any rate.
one Of them vas traced to this place.
and ! was sent out there to investi-
gate. There is always a difference in
towns, some being Inhabited In the
main by good. religious people. others
being VIGOROUSLY bad. n. the point
where the counterfeit bill came from.
was neither good nor bad. but not long
before my arrival Z party had begun
to assemble every evening to play
poker. The game Or series Of games
had been started BY two or three men
who had recently come to the town.
and q number Of citizens had gradu-
ally come to take . part in the pro.
ceedings. They were played In the
room sometimes Of one. sometimes Of
another. member Of the party.
went into the town ostensibly 70
buy cattle. A day or two after my
arrival was Informed BY 4 man
whose acquaintance I had made that
there was 4 poker party in q room up
stairs. He said be was going up to
look On. and l told him !. would 80
with him II be would introduce me
The truth is I have suffered all through
my life from the gambling passion.
Having a fortune. | lost 1t. and that
was what threw me into the detective
business. should not have gone to
watch this game. for ran q great
risk Of being drawn into 1t.
found a party Of good fellows. who
received me cordially. and It was moi
long before I called for some chips. !
500 lost what good money l had
about me and to recoup yielded to q
temptation to use q counterfeit bill
that I had brought with me for a sam.
pie. The moment ! laid 1t on the Ia
BILE ! saw two Of the players give each
other 4 meaning look: then both
turned their eyes on me. A cold chill
ran down my back. for It looked as II
I were detected on the start But my
business had schooled ne in conceal
ing my feelings. and ! returned the
mems glances with a blank stare
Doubtless it was this that caused ons
Of them to make a mistake. He gave
me q crafty look. returned It with
one equally crafty.
! had no idea what this meant.
happened to win the bill l had put uT
and something besides. Then caution
got the better of my passion. and
played only 80 long as l could play or
what I had won. saw the men who
had noticed the bill 60 on the table
watching me. Evidently ! didn't al
the bill Of what they had expected Of
me, for l got no more con6dentia
glances. One thing I nouced-severa
twenty dollar bills came out from
those men on the same bank 10 tn,
one ! had used for u stake and pass
ed into the hands Of other players
One Of them fell to me. The man VIII
had given me the meaning glance a
once asked me for It. Offering foul
lives" for it. But l told him I woult
rather keep it. However. knowing
some game was going on other thar
the open one on the table. I gave 1t t.
him. This seemed to allay q Sigh
suspicion of me that had come to him
1t was the producing Of these twent.
SOLAR bills, all on the same bank. an,
their passing into the hands Of other
that gave me an explanation Of tn
mystery. Counterfeiters were usinl
the game to shove the spurious none,
on to such citizens Of the place a
were drawn into their poker game
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