Evening star., 1922-07-20
The Confidence King
By Arthur B. Reeve.
One of The Stars Week End Fiction Series.
Each story complete in three installments.

"Oh, yes" resumed Burke. "Of
course, 1 sent copies Of tho finger
prints to Scotland Yard. Within two
weeks they replied that one set be-
longed to William Forbes, noted
counterfeiter, who, they understood.
had sailed for South Africa. but had
never arrived there. They were glad
to learn that he was in America and
advised me to look after him sharply.
The woman was also a noted charac-
ter--Harriet Wollstone. an adventur-
ess."
IL suppose you have shadowed them
ever since" Kennedy asked.
Yes. a few days after they were
arrested the man had an accidnt with
his car. 1t was said he was cranking
the engine and that 1t kicked back
and splintered the bone in his fore
arm. Anyhow. he went about with
his hand and arm in sling"
And them"
"They gave my man tho slip that
night in their fast touring car. You
know automobiles have about made
shadowing impossible in these days
The house was closed up and 1t was
said by the neighbors that Williams
themselves. had gone to visit spe-
cialist in Philadelphia. Still. as they
had a years lease\o the house. 1 de-
tailed a man to watch 1t more or less
all the time. They went to Philadei-
phia. all right; some of the bills
turned up there. But we saw moth
ing of them.
"a short time ago word came to me
that the house was open again. 1t
wasn't two hours later that the tele-
phone rang like mad. A Fifth ave-
nue. jeweler had just sold a rope OF
for it herself in crisp new one-hun-
tlred-dollar bills. The bank had re-
turned them to him that very after
noon-counterfeits. I didn't lose any
time making a second arrest up at
the house of mystery at Riverwood.
them. And now. o'connor. tell the
rest of it, You took the flnger-prints
up there"
O'Connor cleaned his throat as If
something stuck in it in the telling.
THE Riv.rwood authorities refused
to hold them.' he said with evident
chagrin. LAS soon as I heard of the
arrest I started up myself with the
fnger-print records to help Burke. It
was the same man, all rght-ril
swear to that on a stack of Bibles.
So will Burke. I'll never forget that
Stub nose-the concave. nose. the nose
being the first point OF Identification
in the portrait parle.' And the ears,
too-oh, 1t was the same man, all
right. But when We produced the
London finger-prints. which tailed
with the New York fnger-prints
which we had made-telieve it or not,
but it is a fact-the Riverwood finger
prints did not tally at ALL
He laid the prints on the table.
Kennedy examined them closely. His
face clouded. 1t was quite evident
that he was stumped, and he said so.
mentI he remarked. but more points
of difference. Any points of differ
ence are usually considered fatal to
the finger-print theory"
We had to let the man CO." con-
cluded Burke. We could have held
because she was not the principal in
the case. My men are shadowing the
house now and have been ever since
then But the next day after the last
arrest a man from New York, who
looked like a doctor. made visit.
didn't dare leave the house to follow
him. but as he never came again
perhaps it doesn't matter. Since then
the house has been closed"
The telephone rang. Itwas Burke's
office calling him. AS he talked we
must have happened at Riyerwood
and we could hardly wait until he had
finished. :
There has been an accident up
there" he remarked, as he hung up
the receiver rather petulantly. They
returned in the car this afternoon
with a large pancake in the back of
the tonneau. But they didn't stay
long. After dark they started out
again in the car. The accident was
at the bad railroad crossing just
above Riverwood 1t seems Williams
car got stalled on the track just as
the Buffalo express was due. No one
saw it. but a man in a buggy around
the bend in the road heard woman
scream He hurried down. The train
had smashed the car to bits. How the
escaped was miracle. but
they found the mans body up the
tracks horribly mangled. 1t was Will
liams. they say. They identified him
by the clothes and by letters in his
pockets. But my man tells me he
found a watch on him with w. F. en-
graved on it. His hands and arms
and head must have been right under.
the locomotive when it struck him,
Judge"
sT guess that winds the case up,
eh?" exclaimed O'Connof with evil
dent chagrin. where's the woman"
"They said she was in the little local
hospital. but not much hurt. Just the
shock and a few bruises"
gest an idea to Burke and he reached
for the telephone again. "Riverwood
2s7,", he ordered: then to us as he
waited he said: I'VE must hold the
woman. Hello. 297? The hospital:
This is Burke Of the secret service.
somewhere about. that I would like
to have him hold that woman who
was in the auto smash until I can
what? Gone? The deuce"
He hung up the receiver angrily.
"She left with a man who called for
Io1 = n
There must be a gang Of them.
Forbes is dead. but we must get the
rest. Mr.. Kennedy, I'm sorry to have
bothered you. but I guess we can
handle this alone. after all. 1t was
the finger-prints that fooled u.s. but
just straight case of detective work
of the old style, which won't interest
you"
ION the contrary" answered Ken
nedy. "Im just beginning to be in
terested. Does it occur to you that.
"Not dead?" echoed Burke and
O'Connor together.
Exactly; that's just what 1 said
not dead. Now stop and think
moment. Would the great Forbes be
SO foolish as to go about with a watch
must have known. that you would
communicate with London and by
means of the prints find out all about
him."
YES" agreed Burke, "all we have
to go by Is his watch found on Will.
liams. I suppose there is some pos
sibility that Forbes may still be
alive"
"Who is this third man who comes
in and with whom Harriet Wollstone
goes away so willingly" put in
OConnor. "You said the house had
been 'closed-absolutely closed?"
Burke nodded. "Been closed ever
since the last arrest. There's a serv-
q OOoS IN pnv ond