The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-08-10
True
Detective Stories
SHADOW or EVIL

I'LL be back In a few minutes
said Henry Goudie, cashier of
the Bank Of Liverpool, to one of
his associates. "Tm just going across
the street to get a bite Of lunch"
An hour later the officials of the
bank began to wonder where Goudie
was, but the fact that his hat still
remained upon it's accustomed peg in
dicated that the cashier wasn't far
away, and that he would soon return.
But at the closing hour that after
noon Goudie was still m~issing-and
when an auditor went over his books
1t was discovered that a hundred and
s~eventy-fve thousand pounds (some
$85O,000) had also disappeared!
Inquiry at the house where Goudie
had lodged failed to bring to light any
trace of the missing cashier, who a
left home that morning as usual, ap-
parently without any intention of being
away over night. His clothes were In
their accustomed position, and even
hisa toilet articles were untouched.
In fact, If 1t hadn't been for the dis
appearance Of the money from the
bank, the police would have searched
the hospitals, on the theory that
Goudie had met with an accident,
But. as Frank Freost, superintend-
ent of Scotland Yard, pointed out, it
was hardly likely that a bank official
and $s5O,OOO would vanish at n and
the same time without some connec-
ton between the two events.
"As luck would have it," continued
Froest, one of the ablest detectives in
England, "Goudie has chosen the SIM
plest manner In which to make his e.
cape-the easiest from his point Of
view and the most difficult from the
standpoint of the police. It Is com
paratively simple to find a man who
lays his plans in advance. You a
usually trace his baggage or his rail-
way tickets. But Goudie Just walked
out to lunch and lost himself some
where. He left only ONE clue behind
him-his hat.
Therefore, working on the assump-
ton that a hatless man would be
quite conspicuous, and that Goudie,
knowing this, would Immediately pur-
chase another hat, Freost made the
rounds of the shops near the Liver
pool bank. From the clerk In one Of
them he obtained the information that
q man answering to the description Of
the missing cashier had purchased a
cloth cap Of a distinctive pattern only
q few moments after moor on the day
that Goudie vanished.
By, means Of this clue and a detailed
reporA on Goudie's appearance, Freost
soon had every man connected with
Scotland Yard searching for the alb
scOndinC cashier. But it was several
weeks before he was located and cap :
tured in a lodging house in the north
Of England.
who looted the Bank of Liverpool did
not by any means close the case.
Even before he was discovered,
Freost had found out that Goudie had
been in The habit of playing the races
-pa1ronZing a clique Of Handbook
men" who had played upon his Gu
pidity in such a manner that they, and
mot he, had secured the benefits Of his
dishonesty. In order to recover the
'money, Freost therefore had to round
up the members of this gambling ring
and force them to disgorge.
1t developed that the leader Of the
organization, sensing a "a in which
to make a lot Of money, without run
ming any risk, had approached Goudie
with an account Of a fixed race
which was to be run at Epson Downs,
and that the cashier, believing that
he could clean up a fortune In a sin
gle day, had taken twenty-five thousand
pounds from the bank, falsifying the
accounts to conceal the shortage. The
mans credulity is evident from the
fact that he placed the money at odds
OF 20 to l, which meant that he stood
to win half a million pounds. or S.
100000 II his horse came in first. OF
course, no boOkmaker could afford to
pay a bet of this size-but Goudie
overlooked this fact and cheerfully
wagered his borrowed" capital. The
horse naturally failed to win, and, In
an effort to recoup his losses, the cash
ier commenced systematically to loot
the banks funds.
One of the odd features of the case
which Freost discovered, by blind luck,
Goudie one day placed a big bet on a
horse that won. When he went to
collect his bet, with the firm intention
Of squaring his accounts with the
bank, he was casually informed that
the wager had not been placed in
time, and he was advised to put it on
another "sure tip" which lost. When
his d~efalcations reached a point when
1t was hopeless to attempt further con-
cealment from the bank authorities,
Gouidie went out to lunch"
It didn't take Freost long to dis
cover that, In planning a roundup of
the gambling gang he was tackling
one Of the most difficult jobs of his
career.
oAC Ny ouC RACooI paShco ny TIC
various threads Of the tangled case.
One by one he followed the various
clues, at least one of which led to
the suicide OF a member of the book.
makers Clique. But, in addition to
seeing That Gouldie was sent to prison
for ten years, Freost secured evt.
dence which forced the return of all
but a small amount of money which
had been taken from the Bank OF
Liverpool and placed upon horses,