Evening star., 1927-10-30
RY GEORGE DILNOT.
Foremost Authority on Scotland Yar'

hy the same him, ana ue-
mand cash. the most IN
genuous bank cashier Is liable to be-
come suspicious Unfortunately the
cashier of the Bloomsbury branch of
the Westminster Bank woke mp too
late. A bewildercd messenger. hustled
to the managers room, Indignantly de-
nied that he was the forger-and in
ten minutes he proved it. The early
bird had caught a good fat worm.
This was The last straw for the
acitated Bankers Association. Soy.
eral ncat lttlc coups of this X nd had
recently taken place. The bank de-
tectivnS we're whipped on tn the case
bnt after weeks uf effort it was oh
vious that they we're getting nowhere
And the biz bank mandarins, nov
that the scent was thoroughly cold,
hethought themselves of Scotland
Yard.
A man blne of eye. light ami brisk
Of step. called down at the branch
bank He ioked with the clerks and
told the manager q couple of stores
that he had not heard before. Frank
F'roest knew the value of atmosphere.
lie looked at the forged check, had
chat with the man VINO had changed
it, told another story, and only when
he had gone did the officials realize
that he had not expressed single
opinion about the ease.
But back at Scotland Yard he
shook his head and reported To hlS
chief A clean cut job. planned Icy
n master from A to Il. and fin" biz
OF forgery. This firm sends m"Ssen-
ger TO the bank with a big check for
was every Friday. The f"r@er
framed il so that he beat the genuine
J. -:yNtr
to show who our man may he or
here he worked from Naturally he
wouldn't show up at the bank him
self. The laNer-doWn WAS probably
dupe--a youngster whose description
I have. He's our only hope. We've
got to find HIM"
You said it," observed his chief
He knew Frank Froest. And here
I interrupt my story to introduce
FRANKIE" to the reader In one
sense, of course. all detectives must
be men of the world. Sat there are
degrees, limitations beyond which
some are not able, or do not care, to
step. Frank Froest is one of those
rare exceptions who have Il natural
capacity fo" adapting themselves to
any circumstances and TO any people
He is mixer. A faculty for making
OF the world, served him in his pro-
fession. but | do not think it was
cultivated. He is naturally genial and
good-natured. 1t is more than twenty
years since / first knew him ana /
have never seen him lose his temper
Decorated by the King, appointed
magistrate of Somerset. he has now
left Scotland Yard and spends his
years of retirement in the active
management of a great sanitarium.
He was offered big sums by many
great firms for his services-he pre-
fers to give them for nothing. At
times he comes TO London and visits
his boys" for practically all the
senior officers of the criminal inv" ii
CATION department learned thci'' r
ness under FroeSt, and it is r.
joke than from any aSsumi
vanity. that when people 81
the Big Five" he retorts. -" I
took five Of them to take my pIa. -"
His subtlcty. as we'll az his resolu-
Non. was demonstrated when he
plucked Jabez Balfour, who had been
guilty of one of the most colossal
financial frauds of modern times. from
the wilds of the Argentine. after every
diplomatic resource to secure his sur
render had been exhausted. He prac-
tically kidnapped the fugitive into a
special train. stood over the engine
driver with a revolver, and a local
sheriff who rode on the line to hold
them up paid for his miscalcuiation
with his life.
This was the man who eventually
became chief of the criminal inveSti-
cation department at a time when new
ideas and fresh initiative We're graft
;,11r s-oi1 le old
order of things.
X X X X
lust at the time Of this bank forgery
Frank Froest was still an inspec-
tor, but he had already built up
reputation for never letting go of
job when once he had got his teeth
in it. Your detective of fiction has a
happy knack of hitting on a clue right
off and pointing out the culprit with
unerring finger and irreproachable
logic. Froest had no clue to the
forger: he had no clue to the man
who might give him a clue. lie had
tn find a man whose name he did not
know, of whom he had a description
that might or might not he correct
and who might know nothing of value
when lie was found.
First of ALL" meditated Froest
stroklng his chin as he tried TO put
himself in the place of the forger,
this bird would be too wise to use
any one who knew him. He'd work
this through a stranger who would
he q blind instrument. Now, how
would he get an innocent stranger
into the game? l reckon he would
advertise"
With this possibility the detective
commenced a stupendous labor that
only his faith could Justify. He
gathered together the daily news.
pspers for month before the check
was cashpd and devoted close atten-