The Little River news., 1922-05-27
True Detective Stories SHADOW OF EVIL

l Copyright by Tho Wheeler Syndicate. Inc. <f1'LL be back in 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 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 its accustomed peg h. 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 a hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds (some l SS5O,0OO) had also disappeared!
 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 untoucheds 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, 1t was hardly likely that bank official and $s5O,OO0 would vanish at one and the same time without some connec- tion between the two events.
 "As luck would have it," continued FToest, one of the ablest detectives in England, rGoudie has chosen the sim plest manner in which to make his es- cape-the easiest from his point of view and the most difficult from the standpoint of the police. It is com paratiYely simple to find man who lays his plans in advance. You can 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- tion that 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 a man answering to the description of the missing cashier had purchased q cloth cap of a distinctive pattern only a few moments after noon on the day that GOudie vanished.
 By means of this clue and detailed report on Goudie's appearance, Freost soon had every man connected with Scotland Yard searching for the ab- sconding cashier. But it was several weeks before he was located and cap- tured in a lodging house in the north of England.
 However, the arrest of the man who footed 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 -patrOnzing a clique of Handbook men," who had played upon his cu- pidity in such a 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 disgorge.
 It developed that the leader of the organization, sensing a way in which to make lot of money, without run ming any risk, had approached Goudie with an account of a "fxed race" which was to be run at Epson Downs, and that the cashier, believing that he could clean up a fortune in 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 1, which meant that he stood i to win half a million pounds, or $2,- 1 500000 if his horse came in first Of l course, no bOokmaker could afford to pay bet of this sze-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 fer 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 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 i his defalcations reached a point when it was hopeless to attempt further con- cealment from the bank authorities, | Gouldie "went out to lunch"
 It didn't take Freost long to dis