The Detective’s Story

I am about to relate—began the detective police-officer—my first professional experience. Perhaps, however, I should call it an amateur rather than a professional experience, for I was not then a member of the force, and took hold of the case merely because it interested me deeply. It was my success in this case and the reputation it gave me that afterwards decided me in the choice of our really glorious profession.

One evening the papers were full of a horrible murder committed uptown the night before. The parties concerned were first-class people, and, of course, the affair made quite a stir. The circumstances, as briefly as I can state them, were as follows:

Michael Howe, the murdered man, was a wealthy merchant, fifty years old, or thereabouts. His nearest relative was a beautiful niece, Miss Ellen Howe, who lived near him, and would, it was understood, inherit his property. People acquainted with the family were aware that Mr. Howe was of a narrow and tyrannical… Read More