This book was not published for the purpose of displaying any literary
ability I may possess, as I have never aspired to win fame by the
wielding of a pen. Within its pages, however, I have attempted, in my
own way and in my own manner, to make clear to the reader the inside or
hitherto unpublished facts about some of the big cases I have handled
during the fifty years I have made the prevention of crime and the
tracking and punishment of criminals my profession. How well I have
succeeded, I will leave it to the reader to judge.
I am today, I believe, the oldest detective, in point of continuous
service, in this or any other country. During my long career I have
handled many important cases, of which the reading public knows nothing
about, for the reason that the men, or corporations, by whom I was
employed, did not hire me for the purpose of furnishing newspapers with
the material with which to amuse or entertain their readers. Within
these pages I tell how the work was done, and how the clues were found
and put together. On the other hand, many cases referred to in this book
have received much newspaper publicity, but in these articles the
writers were not permitted to tell all the inside facts--how the work
was really accomplished. These facts are made public for the first time.
In a few instances I have changed, or veiled, the names of the culprits
about whom the articles were written. For doing this I do not propose to
apologize, however. These men are alive today and are leading upright
lives. They have paid the penalty demanded by the law and society, and
I cannot see where it would do any good to again publish their early
digressions to the world. I have no disposition to willfully malign any
one, and names are only used in cases in which the facts are supported
by documents in the archives of the courts of this country, Canada and
Mexico, the scenes of my greatest activity.
In selecting material for this book I have only used cases which were
out of the ordinary, or in the unraveling of which some original or
unique detective work was done. No attempt has been made to enlarge on
the facts at hand. The book is just a simple narration of real detective
work done on real cases handled by me--no attempt having been made to
color them as an experienced writer would do, or is done to the work or
the deductions of the phantom detectives by the writers of fiction.
Hoping that the book will serve the purpose for which it is issued I am,
Yours truly,
THOS. FURLONG.