6 THE SCHAXTON THIIJUXE THURSDAY MOTJNIXG, MAY 2.', 1803.
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(Theas short serial stories are copyrighted by Bachelor. Johnson & flftrh
tiler, and are printed InTheTrlbune by special arranK (.mont, simultaneous with
thtlr appearance In the leading dally Journals of the la: co cities).
, The exceptional contract etween Mr.
Horace Preble and the Detective bu
reau of the New York police allowed
that young man a month In every year
when his time was absolutely his own.
He was then at liberty to rest from all
labor, or to use his talents for his per
sonal advantage. Thte bleased period
had arrived, and Preble had begun to
taste anew the Joys of Idleness, when
be received a summons promising so
rich a fiinanclal reward that he could
not afford to disregard It.
Vice President Hersch, of the Euro
pean and North American Life Assur
ance society, was the man who desired
Preble's services. He did not state the
case hi his note, but he Intimated that
the society would not haggle about
the question of remuneration.
It will be remembered, perhaps, .that
Preble was In the detective business for
money. He hated it from the bottom
of his boots, and, as an abstract propo
sition, he would have declared death
to be preferable. But he had a false
pride which would not permit him to
be driven to the wall In the battle of
life, and the objectionable means of
livelihood had come to him when his
back was very close to that wall. Ha
had as little appetite for the Investiga
tion of an Insurance fraud an any man
alive, but he, could be hired to do It.
Men have written Immortal verse for
the same lofty motive.
Preble called upon Vice President
Hersch Immediately upon receipt of his
note. The official received him cor
dially, In a cozy office In the society's
big building on lower Broadway. There
was a cheerful grate fire In the office,
and the two men drew their chairs be
fore It, and proceeded to business.
"This Is ; the case of a fraudulent
claim," said Mr. Hersch. "Mrs. Albert
Monell" ho referred to some papers
"has given the usunl legal notice of
her demand for Ja5,000, the amount of
her husband's policies In this company."
"Well," said Preble, "isn't he dead?"
"Oh, yes; he's dead fast enough." '
'Did tho woman murder him?"
"No, Indeed."
"Then, what's the matter?"
"Why, the man committed suicide."
"How do you know?"
"Now, that" business," said Hersch,
rubbing his hands. "That's the ques
tion I could, have expected from you,
Mr. Preble. How do I know? Well,
the fact Is, I don't know? I only sus
pect. It Is because I want to. know,,
that I call upon you." ". ' " ,':
"It seems to me that I remember
Something about the case,"-said Preble,
"Died at hla club, didn't he? Doctor
aid heart disease, I believe?" ' ; , .
" "Yesj that was the ostcnplble cause."
R
A
FIFLDIMfi
"V.'hat did the company's doctor
say?"
"Ke suspected joIson, but tho rane.il
was so Infernally clever ns to leave m
traee of his work. I tell you that a
grain of noonilln distributed through a
man's system Vt mighty hard to find."
"It you know th.it ho wi aeon
Itia "
"U'e don't: but that poison would
have produce:! the lvsulta. We Khali al
lege Ms ur.e wlu-n the case curarj to
trial."
"Hut you don't dare to go Into
com t on th;- nvJIfiil testimony alone,"
said Prebtf. "is th.it it.'"
"That's it exactly."
"What else have ynu."
"We believe that he Informed his
partner in bu?ln-fii that he was going
to do this, and that t'io man can In.
Induced to testify."
Lr.ioi illnary roiife.slon to make
to a bU'MnoHH aroelale."
"Tlicy had been Intimate friends for
many years," said Hersch. "That
could be presented to the Jury."
"Tho Jury," Raid Preble, "would want
something to bac k It. Kvcn a Juryman
would know that a fellow who would
"II;!lf What I Snvc Your Company."
rise up against ithe widow of his In
timate friend would He for what you'd
be willing to pay. By the way, what
would you be willing to pay?"
"We are becoming very confidential,"
said Hersch.
"Oh, .that's all right! There are no
wltnosses."
Hersch glanced complacently at the
cloEed doors of the HUle room. 'Then
he said In a low voice:
"From 11,000 to $5,000, according to
the nature of his evidence."
Preble kicked the grate reflectively.
"Who is this rascal?" he asked.
"The partner?"
Qdifii
7 PS
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U N D L
Ladies' and Gents' Furnishing Goods, Etc.
ESS THAN ONE-HALF PRICE.
vk Si i-j
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"Certainly. We've turned up only
one other rascal In the case so far
except myself."
"One other?"
"Go on. What's his name and ad
dress?" "John M. Lawrence. His office Is In
thj Storrow building. They were
working two or three patented devices
a railroad signal was one of them, I
believe. There was no money in it.
They vjre on the verge of failure."
"So I Inferred from llonell's buI
clde." "That's a point fur th? Jury, cer
tainly." Preble looked Into the fire for a mo
ment. He was wondering what sort
of woman Mrs. Mom-ll was, and what
chance Khe would stand In the drug
gie for existence when so strong a
man as himself bad si nearly failed.
"iloiv did you find out that Law
rence was willing .to to make a lit
tle rnunrjy In this way?"
"t don't knot that certainly, but It
happens that the agent who got Mon
ell Into our company was an Inti
mate frlon.l of both of them. He was
with them on' the evening when, us the
agent thinks, Movrell told bin partner
what he vai golnr; to do. Of course,
our ag; nt did not hear the disclosure,
but something, was said before he left
tlvrn which stuck In his mind ami ex
cited ills Kiifpleion afterward. Ko ho
went to Lawrence and tried to get some
thing out of hlni, Lawrence would only
hint at tvhat he knew."
"Why didn't you have him down
here?"
"I prefer not to do that. It might
be Injudicious, as you can readily Bee.
If any bargain la to be made with
him somebody not connected with us
directly mu.'it do It. You see, I'm
trusting you Implicitly. They told me
at headfiuarters that I couldn't make
any mi.italte In doing so."
"I'm a thoroughly bonest man," snld
Preble. "That's why 1 think so well of
this particular Job."
Hersch eyed him askance, hut th?
expression of the detective's face re
assured him.
"It seems to me," Preble said, after
a pause, "that your case Is weak. Un
less you have something better than
thl'i you'll lose' it."
"There is something better, If we can
find It," responded Hersch. "On that
night at the club Monel wrote a long
letter to his wife."
Proble suddenly sat up straight In hl3
chair.
"Now, that's tangible," ho said. "It
looks like business. Htie was In the
city at the time? I see. A man, ex
cept .on special occasions, doeBn't
write long letters to his wife from the
club. He goes there' to forget her, as a
rule.
"If that letter could be found"
"Are you sure 'he wrote It?"
"Wo know that he wrote a long let
ter, and a servant at the house where
the Monells lived says that she took
It from a boy. But we can't find the
boy, and the servant Is not positively
certain about the night. She Is will
ing to testify, but she's so stupid that
she couldn't stand cross-examination,
even If she was telling the truth.
"Now, Mr. Preble,, you see what I'm
driving, at. That letter must be found.
It's Aon to one that he told her all, and
It's a hundred to one that she kept the
letter. Women always preserve danger
ous documents. And In this case It con
tained her husband's last'words to her.
It's a thing she'd never part with."
"And you want me to go to her house
E.
C R A M X
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nnd stral it, 'raid Preble, calmly.
"Very well. What's it worth?"
"Whatever you think Is right, Mr.
Preble."
The detective rose and kicked his
chair back from 'the lire.
"Half what I save your company,"
ho said. "Without the letter you've no
case. With It you win, for there's no
mortal doubt what's In It."
"That's a good deal of money
$12.r.C0." "Good afternoon."
"Hold on, Mr. Preble; suppose we
pay ten thousand?"
"Good af "
"Oh, very well! Just as you say."
"Put It In writing."
It wan done with great reluctance
on the part of Hersch, who took th?
precaution to laboriously drum the
eoii'tract out on his typewriter nnd
sign It In a disguised hand. Preble
pocketed the document.
"That's all right," he snld. "Now
tell me how many detectives you've al
ready sent 'to the house. But ntver
mind; your whole etaff bas failed, or
you'd never have offered any Hitch
money ns this. I'll go up there, and
on the way I'll cull on Lawrence."
He took Mrs. Monell's address, and
then left the room.
John M. Lawrence, who was born In
'fin. and has grown 'over 40 years old
since that date, was sitting in his of
fice reading. The. subject or his perus
al was a notiflrntlon from his bank
thait a note for nine hundred and odd
dollars would fall duo In the very near
futuer. If he was wondering why,
when It had been powibh- to borrow so
much money, be bad not borrowed
more nnd lOilpped with It, he was cer
tainly not the only man who had been
gnawed by that form of j-ijnorsu.
"I represent the Kurop mn and all
ihe rest of it Insurance company," said
Preble when he had closed the door
behind him. "Wo are going to contest
Mrs. Monell's claim, and we want to
find out whether you'll go on the Etunil
and tell what you know."
Lawrence Involuntarily clutched the
notlllcatlon. Neither .the gesture nor
tho nature of the document escaped
Preble's eye.
"And If so," Preble continued, "for
how much?"
Lawrence was something of a busi
ness man himself, but he hud net
reached the Btngp of development
when he could transact that kind of
business so quickly. Desiring time to
collect his thoughts, he said:
"You're nn Impudent rascal."
Preblo laughed.
"We're not children," he salj. "We're
business men. Do you want to pay that
note, or do you want It to go to pro
test?" Lawrence put the wrong end of a
fresh cigar Into his mouth and tried
to light the other. Naturally there
was no draught.
He laughed nervlnusly. Then, check
ing himself suddenly, he exclaimed:
"By the Lord .Harry, I like your way
of going at a thing. You don't waste
much time, I'll swear. Show me your
credentials."
Preble folded his contract backward
and showed Lawrence Hersch's name
on the end of it. Of course that
amounted to the same thing, but Law
rence was not In a mood to be too par
ticular. Then there was a fencing match, In
which point after point was scored by
Preble. Twenty minutes later he hSd
bought his man for $1,200, and had
learned all he had to tell.
Albert Monell had committed suicide.
NICHOLSO
AT-
IN
O
He had confided In his partner partly
through friendship, but chiefly, as he
had confessed, because he had feared
that Lawrence would suspect, and It
was better ho should be under a pledge.
The nature of that pledge, Lawrence
did not disclose, but Preble noticed that
he shuddered when the conversation
drifted near It.
The dlscloaure had been made at the
imo when the Insurance agent had sup
..iscd It to have occurred. Monell had
.ointed out that his affairs had reached
ho brink of ruin; that he was utterly
orn out: that he had neither the
.trcn;?th to begin the struggles anew
lor the heart to drag his wife down to
he dull misery of squalor.
"He loved the woman," snld Lnw
onee, "and by the eteinul heavens,
ihe's worth It."
"Let us stick to business," rejoined
"reble.
Thus admonished, Lawrence related
.ho story of his friend's last night In
che land of the living.
"As soon ns I saw him," he said, "I
(new .that he'd made up his mind t.)
1.) It. I saw him In the writing room.
He was wilting to her, and I'll tell
you It took a, better nerve even than
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We Are (iolng to in I .Mrs. .Monell's
U. . ..
his to keep a stiff upper Up while he
did It. There's nothing particularly
soft about me, but 1 own that the sight
of him R-ave me the shivers. I couldn't
stand It; and, !y and by, when he had
flnlnhed his letter, 1 got hold of him
and tried to Jolly him out of the Idea.
" 'My duir fellow,' he said, 'I've no
more Idea of killing myself than- you
have.'' .
"Of course that was a bluff.. Ho
smiled' pleasantly, and went on Into
the cafe.. There were several of his
frlendn sitting .by one of the tubles
and drinking. He Joined them, and so
did I. He sat there for an hour talk
ing to all the fellows In the nicest Bout'
of way, making everybody feel goiM,
you know. I made up my mind Hint
A
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he was all right, till, all of a sudden,
I tumbled. I saw what he was up to.
It was good-bye with him, and he wa3
giving every fellow a kind word to re
member him by. From that time on I
was rattled. I expected every second
to see something happen, and I
couldn't have told you whether I was
drinking champagne or cold tea. The
first thing I knew for certain, his eye
was on me, nnd he was saying some
thing about friendship. It was a toast.
I raised the glass to my IIjks, but my
hand shook so that I choked myself
with the wine. I coughed and turned
away. Then there was a crash and a
cry. I started up, and there was Al
bert lying beside his chair, with the
others round him. They said that he
fell dead In an Instant, and that he
tlld not breathe after he touched the
lloor."
"And that's all you know about It
said Preblo.
"That's all. Isn't It enough?"
"It's hardly worth the mon.y."
Preble glanced at the billet doux
from the bank which the other still
Held in ins Hand. Lawrence swore a
round eatb.
"Have you got all this out of me," he
demanded, "and now you're going back
nn your agreement?"
"Not at all, but I shall want ynu to
strengthen that story on the witness
stand."
"What do you want mo to say?"
Treble looked up at Mie celling for a
moment. Then he said:
"Suppose we talk It over quietly In
Grossman's back room?"
(To He Concluded.)
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