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Two Wonderful Detectives;
OR
JACK AND GIL'S MARVELOUS SKILL.
By OLD SLEUTH.
Copyright, 1898, by Parlor Car Publishing Company.
All Rights Reserved.
NEW YORK:
J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
57 ROSE STREET.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I
THE DETECTIVE AND THE BANKER--A REMARKABLE
NARRATIVE--A PECULIAR TRAIL--MILLIONS WITH NO
OWNER--A GREAT TASK LOOMING UP FOR JACK--A MOMENT OF
EXPECTANCY.
Chapter II
NOT A TERRIBLE CRIME--A SERIES OF SHARP QUESTIONS--A
DETECTIVE AT HIS BEST--STARTLING DEVELOPMENTS OF A
LOGICAL MYSTERY SOLVER--REPRODUCING AN IMAGE AFTER
FORTY YEARS--A GREAT DIALOGUE.
Chapter III
AN EXTRAORDINARY CROSS-EXAMINATION--A THEORY AT
LAST--WHITE SAND AND JERSEY MUD--WORKING ON A SLIGHT
CLUE--AN INSPIRATION--THE MAN WITH THE DIARY--A
PROSPECT.
Chapter IV
A MOST WONDERFUL "SHADOW"--GOING OVER A RAILROAD
DIARY--AN INCIDENT THAT WAS SUGGESTIVE--A MARVELOUS
DISCOVERY--THE OLD TRUNK--ON THE TRACK OF A GENUINE
CLUE.
Chapter V
THE SECRET OF THE OLD BOX--A GHASTLY FIND--WONDERFUL
CONFIRMATIONS--STILL MORE WONDERFUL DETECTIVE
WORK--A NOVEL SURPRISE--THE DEAD ALIVE--AN ABSOLUTE
IDENTIFICATION.
Chapter VI
ON A NEW "LAY"--DOWN IN MONMOUTH COUNTY--AN APPARENT
DEFEAT--A SINGULAR CLUE--TWO COINCIDENT DATES--OLD
BERWICK--STRIKING SUGGESTIONS--ONCE AGAIN A CHANCE.
Chapter VII
OLD BERWICK'S RECOLLECTIONS--A GOOD REASON FOR A
STRANGE DEPOSIT--A GIRL IN THE CASE--EXTRAORDINARY
DETECTIVE RESULTS--A NEW "SHADOW"--GREAT
POSSIBILITIES--SURE TO WIN.
Chapter VIII
JACK'S FORESIGHT--A SECOND VISIT TO OLD BERWICK--THE
PORTRAIT--OTHER SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERIES--"ALAS! THE
LETTER!"--A STREET CAR INCIDENT--"I WILL FIND THAT
LETTER."
Chapter IX
A WONDERFUL SEARCH--JACK BECOMES THE SEARCHER--A
STARTLING DISCOVERY--THE LONG-LOST LETTER FOUND AT
LAST--A MOST REMARKABLE FEAT--THE STORY OF THE
SEALED LETTER.
Chapter X
CONCLUSION.
Two Wonderful Detectives;
OR,
Jack and Gil's Marvelous Skill.
BY OLD SLEUTH,
_Author of All the Famous Old Sleuth Stories_.
CHAPTER I.
THE DETECTIVE AND THE BANKER--A REMARKABLE
NARRATIVE--A PECULIAR TRAIL--MILLIONS WITH NO
OWNER--A GREAT TASK LOOMING UP FOR JACK--A MOMENT OF
EXPECTANCY.
"Your name is John Alvarez?"
"That is my name, sir."
An elderly man was seated at a table and a young man stood opposite to
him. The elderly person was a well-known banker who had retired from
business, and he had sent for the detective who had just entered his
presence.
"You are a detective?"
"I claim to be, sir."
The elderly man meditated a moment and then said:
"A gentleman learning that I desired the services of a detective
mentioned your name to me, and gave you a character for qualities which
I think are specially needed in the service I may have for you."
"I am glad, sir, that some good friend has spoken well of me."
John Alvarez was a twin brother of Gil Alvarez. They were known among
their few friends as Jack and Gil. They were trained athletes; their
father had been a circus performer, and under peculiar circumstances the
two brothers had been trained for the profession, but owing to reasons
satisfactory to themselves, and as recorded in previous records of their
exploits, they had decided become detectives, and had so acted upon
three occasions as recorded in Nos. 104, 106 and 108 of "OLD SLEUTH'S
OWN." These brothers had a history and were two very remarkable young
men, as proved in their previous exploits as recorded, and as will be
proved again in the present narrative.
"The matter I have on hand is a singular one. I do not know that I can
give you a single clue to work upon--indeed, it is a very strange
story."
"If you have sufficient confidence in me, sir, you may tell me the story
and I will be able to judge whether or not there is a clue to work
upon."
"I will tell you the story and tell it in perfect confidence, trusting
that in case we fail you will never mention the circumstances to a
living soul; let the subject pass from your mind forever. And again, you
must call in no confidential assistant in the matter. Your failure or
success must remain a secret between ourselves--yes, a secret forever."
"Is there a crime involved?"
"I do not think there is unless I am the criminal."
Jack Alvarez gave a start as the old banker by implication accused
himself of being a criminal.
"I cannot agree, sir, to hold as a secret a crime which in justice
should be exposed."
The banker laughed, and said:
"That is a straight remark and in full accord with the character that
was given you as a straightforward, honorable young man. I can say that
my crime is not a punishable one, and yet I feel that I am deserving of
censure. You may think so also, but I will say this much: I will pay a
large sum of money to rectify. What I say as concerns myself is a case
of inexcusable negligence."
"That is your only crime?"
"I feel so."
"Then, sir, you can state the case to me and rely upon my maintaining
your secret."
The banker meditated a few moments and then said:
"Forty years ago I was a comparatively poor man; I had just started in
the banking business and I was having a hard time to make both ends
meet, as I had been a clerk and was starting out on my own hook with a
very small capital. The business in which I was engaged at that time
under the old emigration laws is not possible now--I mean the
transactions in which I made the best profits. It was a legitimate
business, and I know several bankers who from the same beginning
afterward became large financial concerns. Yes, I was successful myself,
but, as stated, I was doing a small business and thankful to make
fifteen or twenty dollars on a deal; and one rainy day--a dark, dismal
day--I was seated in my office alone, when a man entered--a singular
appearing man--and demanded if my name was Richard Townsend. I replied
that my name was Richard Townsend; he then asked me if I was born and
raised in a certain town in Massachusetts. I told him that I had been
born in Massachusetts in the town named. He asked me about my father and
mother, named them by their given names, and named them correctly. I
made an affirmative answer to all his questions, and then he said:
"'You are the right man, I have made no mistake,' and then added:
"'Here is a certified draft on London for sixty thousand dollars; here
are securities to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars;
here are other securities of a cash value of sixty-five thousand
dollars; here is a draft accepted by a London firm of solicitors for
fifty thousand pounds, which is to be held in trust until collected.
Now, sir, my instructions are to deposit these with you. The drafts are
made payable to your order; the bonds are made over to you, and of
course the Bank of England notes are collectable at any time.'"
The banker rested a moment, and then resuming said:
"You may judge of my surprise and astonishment. I would have thought the
man crazy, but as he named the different amounts he laid the vouchers
before me, and at a glance I could see that they were all genuine. The
singular statements of the man and his final proposition almost took my
breath away, and it was fully a minute--and under the circumstances a
minute is a long time--before I could propound the question:
"'Why is this wealth consigned to me?'
"'I will explain.'
"'Do so.'
"'I am to give you a letter. These securities and the letter you are to
put away in your safe and forget that you have this trust for twenty
years. At the expiration of twenty years you are to open the letter and
you will receive full instructions.'
"'But in case of my death?' I said.
"'You are to leave a letter addressed to some one whom you can trust,
who will open the letter and carry out the trust. Here is the letter.'
"I was thoughtful for a long time. I did not understand it all. I was
appalled, for there was a convertible fortune committed to my care, and
I was to be its custodian for twenty years without knowing for whom I
held it in trust, and there were many contingencies that might occur.
The securities might fall in value, the institutions might go out of
existence, and there were dividends to be collected or they would
accumulate. I spoke of this, and the stranger said:
"'The individual who consigns this wealth to you has taken all these
possibilities into consideration. He desires the dividends to
accumulate, and will take the chances also of the winding up of the
institutions. You will accept the trust, and I am to pay you in advance
ten thousand dollars for so doing. I have the money here in good current
bills, and here is the letter of instructions to be opened in twenty
years. Now, sir, will you accept the trust?'
"'Is this honest money, and am I assured that I am not becoming the
custodian of stolen funds?'
"'I will swear that it is honest money, and I will also sign a letter to
you that if you discover at the end of twenty years when you have opened
the letter that all is not fair and square you can make such disposal of
the money as you may see fit.'"
Again the banker meditated a few moments, and Jack sat silent, wondering
what the denouement to the strange story would prove. At length Mr.
Richard Townsend after an interval resumed, and said:
"I thought the matter over and concluded that stolen money would not be
hidden away for twenty years, and after due reflection, having decided
to have him give me the letter, I consented to accept the trust. Ten
thousand dollars paid in hand was a great temptation, but not even for
ten thousand dollars would I have accepted a criminal trust.
"The man gave me the letter signed by a name I had never heard before. I
proposed that he make it in the form of an affidavit, but he said:
"'You will have the money; it will be a matter of conscience with you
anyway; in fact, I have no witnesses. You can steal the money, no one
can call you to account; it is an even thing between us.'
"I so concluded, and the man went away after some further talk. Now, Mr.
Alvarez, that is one part of this mysterious affair."
"Did the man give you no intimation of his purpose in making such a
strange contract?"
"He did not, but he did say I could change the securities and cash the
draft in London and make investments in the United States, but he
imposed the conditions that I should do so at once and then place the
securities in some safe place and let them lay collecting interest and
dividends according to my judgment; 'but the letter,' said he, 'you must
not open until twenty years from to-day.'
"The man went away and I was in possession of the securities. I let a
week or two pass, thinking he might be crazy or that some development
might come, but he came not nor did any development. I waited one year
before I did anything with the securities, then I changed all the
foreign investments into American securities. I collected the draft on
the London solicitors; I decided to invest the money all in real estate.
I did so in my own name, but provided for its going to the proper person
at the end of the twenty years."
"Did the man never turn up?"
"He never did; and it is just forty years ago that I received the trust.
My investments have increased so that at this moment the estate which I
hold in trust amounts to over two and a half millions, and I know not
who the real owner of this vast property is."
"Didn't you learn when you opened the letter?"
"Aha! Mr. Alvarez, here comes in my criminality."
Jack expected to hear a confession; on the contrary, the explanation was
strange, weird, and extraordinary, and yet the incident could readily
occur. It was, however, a remarkable incident.