Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1922-02-11
ndy detective and ended his newspaper

OSlScClfo ana ended MS newspaper
career.
Soon afterward Police Inspector Tom
Byrnes sent for Bracken and told him
to Mt his mind to the position Of mana
ger of the billiard and poolroom of a
notorious hotel now the site of an office
| building In Park Row, and then a rem
devious for burglars, confidence men and
crooks Of all degrees. 1t appeared that
the son Of DR.. J. Marion Sims, the great
surgeon, whose statue is in Bryan Park,
had been beaten up in that hotel ana
robbed of money and watch which came
from his famous father.
Eddie" was the police ear opened
within the wnite-fronted colonial build
Ing that sheltered such denizens OF ras-
cality as Barney MCGUIRE, the green
goods king" Ike Vail, Bat Riordan and
Jim Walls, confidence workers; Tom and
'ThS' Davis, Jim Patterson, JACK
Bridges and lot of other crooks.
How well Bracken did his listening
which enabled him to restore the watch
to its owner may be gathered from In
spector Byrnes' next move in having De-
| tective Wilkinson put Bracke1 in a de-
partment store TO watch for shopIifters,
| one Of the first department store detec-
tives.
After working in that capacity for
| some time Bracken went to Wilkinson
and asked for different work.
The veterans Of the Wilkinson agency
say Bracken was Immediately assigned to
a famous explosion mystery at Whining
ton, Del Four hundreds tons OF now
der had blown up, killing twelve work
ers, wounding scores and breaking win
/ dows in Philadelphia. Officials Of the
powder company received threatening
letters warning them to cease iavestiga-
ha ~aF~ -
Those letters proved the undoing Of the
plotters, for they were traced to a family
into which Bracken entered as a boarder,
securing much Of the evidence that con-
Yicted those causing the explosion.
THEN HIS CAREER
BECOMES RIDDLE.
From here on the career Of Bracken Is
an absolute riddle. one Of the mysteries
of the Metropolis, for he appears to have
become directly connected with several OF
the largest law firms. He Is known to
have engineered the big moves IN the
marital troubles Of Charles ". Morse, the
Ice king, who now is up against a Fed
eral prosecution for transactions with
the shipping board.
Ten years ago 1 met Bracken at Shep-
heard's, in Cairo. He was much IN the
company OF Fakhri Bey, son Of thu
minister Of Turkey. Some years after
ward, in Paris, 1 learned that a man
who corres-o nded in appearance to
Bracken had been the factor in con-
Meeting the agent Of one Near East gov
eminent with Germany Every time the
agent who was being followed met any
one they we're photographed togethe-,
and the dynamo back Of this persistent
and absolutely convincing espionage was
the American sleuth.
On another occasion in London the for
eign representative Of mighty American
oil company told of "a little red-headed
fellow" who had followed an engineer
. Of the concern to Tunis, then to Algiers.
down to Biskra and by caravan into the
I Sahara desert. He was evidently hired
by an opposition oil crowd to see II
we struck oil" said the foreign repre-
sentative. He was there when our en-,
gineer failed but we never suspected
his connection with the opposition. for
he had managed TO install himself as per.
sonal bodyguard to the engineer him
self"
To sum up. the detectives who are i'm
p-rtant in the great cases that develop
! in O'Henryville and elsewhere are men
who make it the rule Of their lives to
keep out Of print. They are all about in
l the big restaurants. hotels and clubs and
/ their presence is unknown 10 the multi
tude. They never write their life stories
and most Of them, like Bracken, viii
die with sealed lips.