Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 119, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1911 — Under the Rose [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Under the Rose

If FINNEY VALBNttNK. Investigator rrf/ft

The Ten-Thousand-Dollar Bill

By FREDERIC REDD ALE

(Oopyrlyht by W. O. Chapman)

HMMmN A certain Saturday liilfflllllit In October, just before Ml bank-closing time, the HI cashier of the Wall 91 street brokerage firm of j]| Seybel & Lozer handed to a young messenger rar I nAmed Frit* Krull a d®[J poslt-book, between the leaves of which was a ten-thousand-dollar bill, SsßHSsi with Instructions to hurry around to tho Nir

tfcmal Fidelity Bank before twelve Yoons Krali —as he had often done before—buttoned the book Inside his Jacket and went whistling down the Angle flight of steps to - the street That was the last seen of him by the Arm until the following Monday morning; the fact that be did not return before closing-time on Saturday apparently .passed without notice; the lad—he was only seventeen —had already drawn his week’s pay. Bat when the office opened on tho Monday following Frits Krull and his parents—worthy, middle-aged tier-, mans—were waiting In the hallway with a most astounding story to the effect that, in some unaccountable manner, Frits had lost the ten-thous-and-dollar hill somewhere, somehow, between the office of Seybel & Loser and the Fidelity Bank! There was the empty bankbook, that was all! Now, bank-notes of that slse and denomination do not grow on every tree, and very few firms could be expected to pocket such a loss without a qualm. Bo first tiie cashier and then Mr. Seybel and Mr. Loser took Master Frits In hand for a thorough grilling. But the amount of Information they elicited. as one of them said, yon could put to your eye and never notice It The hoy testified that he had gone straight to the bank. When he arrived there the btll was missing! No; he had not gone into any other office, nor had he stopped to speak or skylark with any of the boys employed in neighboring offices. True, he had bought a package of chewing-gum at the stand kept by Tony the Greek, but that hadn’t taken a minute. Asked why he didn’t report the loss Immediately, Frits squirmed a bit and hesitated shamefacedly, which caused the elder Krull to break in by saying that the boy was too frightened. He had gone straight home, remaining Indoors all of Saturday night and Sun-

A conference between the heads of the firm and .the cashier elicited the fact that the latter had fortunately taken the precaution to keep a memorandum of the series letter and the number of the missing bill, which were •D 85673904. So, pending a decision on what should be done with Fritz, notice to all banking firms and foreign-exchange houses was sent out over the ticker, and a reward of five hundred dollars offered for return of the lost banknote. The great danger lay in the note being sent out of the country—supposing it to have been dishonestly acquired. Then the two men above named went at Frits ‘Krull and his parents again, but without tangible result. At last: “Better send for Finney Valentine,’* said Mr, Seybel, which was no sooner suggested than done. Kow, Inspector Finney Valentine’s name was known and respected throughout the financial district. He It was, during his official career, who established the famous “dead-line** south of Fulton street, below which no crook cared to be found. Many had been the cases of fraud or embezzlement on the part of defaulting cashiers which Valentine and his men had handled. Now that he was retired and working .under the aegis of his own shingle, it was perfectly natural for Seybel ft Loser to enlist his aid in clearing up the,, mystery surrounding young Frits Krull and the ten-thous-and-dollar bill.

To the ex-chief of detectives, then, the now thoroughly frightened messenger told his strange story over again for the third or fourth time. Perhaps the strangest thing about the matter was that there was so little to tell. There were three possible explanations: First, that the note had been actually lost somewhere on the street; second, that Frits had been robbed by a skillful pickpocket; third, that he was dishonest and had voluntarily handed the bill to some outside confederate % W- •

Against the latter supposition was to he placed the uniform honesty of the hoy thus far. Over and over again Valentine reverted to that brief stoppage at the fruit and candy fctand of Tony the Greek, but could obtain nothing further than has been already narrated. Nevertheless we who are In the secret may infer that the Greek formed Val■rt; he was known tat particular disalmost under lock Exchange ifc»e regular policestreet But they liscredit, —he was ‘smiling and cunl earrlnged native MS*

So, convinced that Tony the Greek might bear watching,—perhaps because be was the only person to whom young Krull had spoken on the fateful occasion,—Valentine had him shadowed. Almost immediately the great detective’s prescience bore fruit. The Krull family lived In one of a block of tenements In East Twentyeighth street near the river. Further down the block a sign In a parlor window of the first fiat announced that “Professor Abel Pennant, Clairvoyant and Palmist,” dwelt within. To Valentine's surprise the trail of Tony the Greek led to the professor's door on the Wednesday night following the momentous Monday. Inquiry among the neighbors aliened the fact that Profesor Pennant, —- a slight, dapper, rather feminine little fellow.—had quite a local reputation.* Besides being skilled as a “seer” and a reader of hands, he also posed as a “medical healer,” and bad been known ns a public exhibitor of hypnotic phenomena. A rather handsome girl, said by some to be Pennant's daughter, but believed by many more to be really his wife, was also more or less in evidence, and helped the professor now and again. Further, Tony the Greek was a frequent visitor. This was Thread Number One. Thread No. Two was this: Valentine made an early call upon the Krull family, being desirous of seeing Fritz and his parents In their home life. Apparently they were all that they seemed to be,—decent, God-fearing, industrious folk, the father a skilled wdteh-maker or repairer employed by a prominent firm In Union Square. But one important fact was learned at this call, resulting from oloaer questioning of young Fritz as to what he did and where he went during his spare time evenings. Then it transpired that he was Intimate with Professor Abel Pennant and his pretty “daughter" down the street, whom the boy spoke of quite familiarly as Connie. On being asked what went on during his visits at the Pennant fiat, Fritz laughed rather shamefacedly, squirmed, and showed the first sign of embarrassment Finally he confessed that “the prof” did lots of funny things—tricks with cards, gazing into a big crystal globe, and sometimes gave him shocks frpm an electric or galvanic battery. When Connie’s name was mentioned more particularly, Fritz blushed painfully, but all he could be got to admit was that she was “awful good fun.”

The facts last narrated gave Valentine an idea. Keeping himself carefully in the background, he sent a trusty subordinate to call on Prof. Abel Pennant with the pretense of arranging for some public hypnotic exhibitions in near-by towns. The bait caught some bigger fish than the inspector had hoped for. Not only was Pennant quite willing to go into the thing—for a consideration—but he let out the fact that he had a capital “subject”—a young fellow, innocent as a girl, who was one of the best he, the professor, had ever met. Promising to see him later, Valentine's man reported progress; the chief immediately jumped to the conclusion that the “subject” was none other than Fritz Krull. But even so, where was the connection between Prof. Pennant and the theft of the ten-thousand-dollar bill? Was it Tony the Greek? Was it possible that The suspicion suddenly born in the detective’s mind was so startling as to demand serious and careful consideration. In all his talks with young Fritz the inspector had been unable to secure an admission on the lad's part that Pennant had ever “put him to sleep.” That might have arisen from crafty concealment on the boy’s part, or it might have proceeded from ignorance or forgetfulness. Valentine was inclined to credit it to the latter. But the point had been reached where even his wide knowledge was at fault. So he took unto himself a certain wise one, an expert in the most advanced hypnotic science of the day, to whom he propounded certain queries. The answers received determined the next step, and an appointment was made with Dr. Guy Ramie for the next evening.

Telling Frits that be wanted him to call on a certain gentleman who might be able to trace the missing banknote, the two presented themselves at the doctor's rooms. A quick scrutiny of the lad by the latter elicited an encouraging and affirmative nod In Valentine’s direction, as much as tb shy: “He’ll do, I guess!”

After some brief conversation, in which young Krull was made to repeat his story of that eventful Saturday, his mind thus being brought to bear ou the subject. Eh*. Ramie drew his chair in front of Frits and made the usual “passes” with his hands. To Valentine’s surprise and the doctor’s evident delight the boy fell almost at once and of his own volition into an attitude of repose. It was as If the preliminary process was to him a familiar one. In three minutes Frits Krull was in a hypnotic trance, eyes wide open, but utterly oblivious of his surroundings.

“He’s boon Chore before!** said Dr. Ramie under hla breath to Valentine, “not once, but many times. A better subject or better control f never saw In all my professional experience. Ask him anything you want. He’s good for half ah hoar at least Don’t.raise your voice, —speak to him in an ordinary tone." Thus bidden. Finney Valentine began his inquisition. “Fritz, my boy, 1 want you to answer my questions. Do you understand what I say?” " “Yea, I hoar you,” came the reply in the curiously flat and monotonous tones common to hypnotized persons. “Very well, son. Now, what did you do with that ten-thousand-dollar bill a week ago last Saturday?” “I —gave ft to Tony the Greek.'

“When you were on your way to the Fidelity Bank?” “Yes—sir.” - - - “Why did you give It to Tony?” “Be—cause —the —prof—told mo —to.” “How did the prof, know that you would have the bill in your possession just at that time?” “He —did—n’t—he—Just —told me —to —give—the—first—big—money —I —got—to—Tony.” “When was this, Fritz?” “Oh —lots —of —times—l—guess.” “At his rooms?” “Sure —Connie —was —there—Say, she’s —awful—nice!” Valentine pushed back bis chair and rose, mopping his forehead. For the moment, although his daring theory had been tested and found not wanting, he was astounded at Its success. He had secured the vital information needed. , , . Plainly, the crafty Pennant, aided by his winsome daughter, who bad probably made shameless love to the artless Fritz, —had stumbled on the fact that the boy was highly susceptible to hypnotic influence. Probably the plot had been long and carefully

lar action being associated entirely with hla fub-conselous mind. The Greek had of course been warned what to expect a&fl to he on the look-out When Fritz bill to him you may be certain that Tony hustled It out of sight and later passed It on to Pennant.” Valentine nodded complete comprehension, Dr, Ramie had simply voiced his own theoretical imaginings, yet in scientific terms and with the authority of an expeirt “What’s your next move—ls I may Inquire?” said the doctor. “Arrest ’em both as' soon as 1 can get the warrants. There's no fear of their skipping, I guess; Pennant doubtless thinks he’s covered his tracks too well.” Next morning, the Instant court opened, Valentine swore out warrants for the arrest of one Tony the Greek and one Professor Abel Pennant on the charge of grand larceny. He granted to make both arrests himself; so while he went downtown to nab the Greek he left a man on watch outside Pennant’s flat Safely lodging master Tony in the Tombs, the exchief went after the larger game—the master-mind in the clever conspiracy, In fact But what was his disgust to find that the bird—both birds in fact the professor and the woman named Connie, had flown. The flat was empty. In some way Pennant had been “tipped.” Perhaps he had got wind of Fritz’s visit to Dr. Ramie and sensed that danger was in the air. How had they got away? The man on guard bad been furnished with Pennant’s description, and swore that no such man had entered or left the flat ‘Two women came out just before you arrived, one of them carrying a grass suit-case, but ” “Damnation!” exclaimed Valentine. “Which way did they go?” “West. We can catch ’em all right less they’ve took a trolley car.” But they hadn’t as it turned out In

lost him tho train. The floor woo Iff the net at sliding to, and tho condsoter had “given the beß” wtaen Valentine Just managed to squeeze inside the door to the accompaniment of the nasally-droned words, “Watch-your-atep!” so familiar to Subway riders. Local trains are seldom very crowded, and Valentine was fortunate to so cure a cross-seat facing the woman he waa watching. He tried to peer through the fine-meshed folds of the automobile veil, but the light was too poor. Then, It must be remembered, he knew Pennant and Connie only by description. The woman sat perfectly still, the grass suit-case on the floor at her ride. It dawned upon him that the woman facing him was Abel Pennant in disguise, making for the Grand Central Station and a train that would bear him far away! In all likelihood there was a change of men’s clothes in that . suit-case. In a few second doubt became certainty in Valentine’s mind. Yet" how to prove it? He must make no mistake, of course. Chance, however, gave the opportunity desired. Now, to understand what followed In the next few minutes the reader must remember that the veiled woman sat on the Inside of her seat next the window; Valentine sat facing at the aisle end of his seat* Just as the train started from Thirty-third street the pretended woman dropped her handkerchief. The strong current from the open windows and doors —It was an oppressively warm autumn day on the street—blew the bit of cambric into the aisle. Valentine leaned over to pick it up, intending to restore it to the owner and perhaps hear what, kind of a voice Nature had blessed “her” —or “him”— with, when in the act of stooping another quick thought smote his brain. He remembered reading somewhere that if you toss anything to a womaf seated she Is very apt to catch it In her lap without moving her limbs; her

hatched. The use of a confederate like Tony the Greek was especially clever, and far less dangerous than having the boy bring the money direct to tbe charlatan's flat, especially in view of the fact that Frits knew Tony very well, and bought of him every day in the year. “Satisfied?” queried Dr. Ramie. “Perfectly," said Valentine, “thanks to you. I’ve got all I needed In the way of information. But bow do you figure that Pennant worked the gfune?” “Kelp me get our young friend on the lounge yonder—he won’t wake up yet awhile and when he does he'll think he’s merely had a little nap,— and HI give you my theory. “Pennant and the woman got Frits in the habit erf running in and out Then the rascal put him to sleep—not once, but many times—and in that state found out that he frequently carried large sums in currency. As he had asked the boy such questions in his waking state he might have started some suspicion, for our young friend is no fooL ‘Then, having found out what he wanted, Pennant probably put him to sleep again, and told him that next time he carried a lot of money to the bank he was to give it to Tony. This the boy would infallibly do —without question and without remembering aft erward what he had done, the parti cu-

res ponse to Valentine's “Come on!” the two started on a run in t&e direction named. Across Second avenue, then Third avenue, they pelted. Midway between Lexington and Fourth, Valentine’s companion grunted hoarsely:. “There they go!” pointing out two female figures hurrying on a quarter of a block ahead. As he spoke they, disappeared down the steps of the uptown Subway kiosk. “That’ll do,” said Valentine, slowing down to a quick walk. “Go back to the house, in case It’s a ruse, and wait there till you hear from me.’’ At the ticket-window, owing to a long queue of other passengers, he came up with the two women, one of whom carried a grass suit-case; the other was at the window buying a ticket, or tickets. A local train came In— Twenty-eighth is not an express station —but only one of the two women boarded it, the one carrying the suitcase, and who wore a heavy automobile veil wound around her head in several thicknesses. Valentine caught the muffled words, “Be a good girl,” from the one about to ride, but was suddenly smitten with indecision. Which one should he follow? If it was a get-away with the stolen bill, then It was a hundred chances to one that It was in that Buit-case or on the person of the traveler. And yet His momentary hesitation nearly

skirts furnish an effective and sufficient net. On the other band, a man under the same conditions invariably brlnn his knees together smartly. The experiment may be tried a hundred times with less than ten per cent of failures. So, acting on the inspiration, instead of politely handing the handkerchief to the suspect opposite, Valentine did an Inexcusably rude thing—from his position half out In the aisle he “balled" the handkerchief and literally tossed It at Its surprised owner. Ere the bit of compressed white fabric fell, the “woman* brought her knees together quick as winking! In that single Instant Valentine knew that his suspicion was correct. The person before him was evidently “no lady.” He made no further move until the train slowed up at Forty-second street Then he rose and waited for the other to precede him to the platform. Onoe there,, clear of the push and crush, he stepped alongside the hurrying figure with the bag, caught one arm firmly by tbe elbow, saying quietly: “Gome’s up, professor. I arrest yon for grand larceny.' Better come quietly and get those skirts off!” And sewed in the pocket of s pair of trousers in the suit-case a search revealed the stolen ten-thousand-dollar hOl!