The Meeker herald., 1922-11-18
True
Detective Stories
SHADOW OF EVIL

<xT'LL be back In q few minutes. ;"
said Henry Goudie. cashier Of
the Bank Of Liverpool. to one OF
his associates. "I'm just going across
the street to get q bite Of lunch"
An hour later the odicials Of the
bank began to wonder where 0oudie
was. but the fact that his hat still
remained upon Its 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 missing-and
when an auditor went over his books
It was discovered that hundred and
seventy-nve thousand pounds (some
SS5O.OO0) had also disappearedi
Inquiry at the house where Goudie
had lodged failed to bring to light any
trace Of the missing cashier. who had
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
his toilet articles were untouched.
In fact, II It 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 bank ofhcial
and $4,000 would vanish at one 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 es-
cape-the easiest from his point of
view and the most dinicult from the
standpoint Of the police. 1t Is COM
parstively simple to ind q man who
lays his plans in advance. You can
usually trace bis 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-
tIon that q 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 q
cloth cap Of distinctive pattern only
q few moments after noon on the day
that Goudie vanished.
BY means of this clue and detailed
report on Goudie's appearance. Freost
coon had every man connected with
Scotland Yard searching for the ab.
seondinR cashier. But It was several
weeks before he was located and cap.
tured in 4 lodging house In the north
Il England.
However, the arrest Of the man
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
-pa,ronsing a clique Of Handbook
men," who had played upon his Gu,
pidity In such Q manner that they. and
not 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 dlssorEe.
1t developed that the leader Of the
organization. sensing 4 way In which
to make q lot of money. without run
ming any risk, had approached Goudie
With an account Of 4 '.hIed race
which was to be run at EPSON Downs
and that the cashier. believing that
hs could clean up fortune In 4 sin
gle day, had taken twenty-five thousand
pounds from the bank, falsifyinK the
accounts to conceal the shortage. The
mans credulity Is evident from the
fact that he placed the money at odds
Of 20 to I, which meant that he stood
to win half . million pounds. or S.,
10000 II his horse came In first. OF
course, no bookmaker could afford te
pay q 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
Ter commenced systematically to loo'
the banks funds.
One Of the odd features Of the case
which Freost discovered. BY blind luck
0oudie one day placed big bet on q
horse that won. When he went tc
collect his bet. with the arm intention
Of squaring his accounts with ths
bank, he was casually informed thai
the wager had not been placed In
time, and he was advised to put 1t or
another "sure tip" which lost. Wher
his dsfalcations reached 4 point wher
1t was hopeless to attempt further con
csalment from the bank authorities
| Gouldie went out to lunch"
II didn't take Freost long to dis
cover that, In planning = roundup oi
the gambling gang he was tacklinl
one of the most dimcult Jobs Of hi: