The Confidential Clerk

The Innocent Often Suffer With The Guilty— The Detectives’ “Keys”—Regrets—Leonard Savage, A Young Man Of New Hampshire, And His Family Stock— Richard Brooks, A Wealthy New York Merchant— His Visit To Young Savage’s Father—Results—Partial Biography Of Mr. Brooks, In Wall Street And Elsewhere—A Slave To Fortune —A Father’s Pride—Mr. Brooks’s Fearful Dream —Mr. Brooks In The Old Home Of His Childhood—How A True Man Treats His Wife—Family Aspirations—The Love Of Young Men—Country And City Temptation—A “New Suit,” And A Trip To The Mountains—A Surprising Present—A Happy Season—A Fearful Change Comes—The Terrible Results Of An Unjust Judgment—One Of The Strangest Things Ever Known—A Catholic Penitent An Actor In The Scenes—Remorse—Unravellings In An Unexpected Way—A Speedy Voyage To Europe To Restore The Wronged To His Right Place.

by George McWatters

It is one of the misfortunes of a detective’s life, that he learns to be suspicious of the innocent as well as of the guilty; and, like other men, detectives sometimes err in their judgment, and the innocent suffer, not only under unjust suspicions, but sometimes the penalty of offences of which they are not guilty, through the force of “circumstantial evidence” which is brought to bear upon them. Indeed, in the eye of the law, circumstantial evidence is frequently of more weight than the direct testimony of alleged eye-witnesses, for the latter may falsify, but circumstances do not create themselves, and do not often occur simultaneously or in combination. There can be no “conspiracy” among them, as between living witnesses. They have no prejudices to express, no animosities to gratify, and we usually attach to them the greatest importance. Indeed, they are the keys usually, by which the detective unlocks… Read More