27 chapters
5 hour read
Selected Chapters
27 chapters
A Sharper’s Downfall
A Sharper’s Downfall
OR, INTO THE NET BY NICHOLAS CARTER Author of the celebrated stories of Nick Carter’s adventures, which are published exclusively in the New Magnet Library, conceded to be among the best detective tales ever written. STREET & SMITH CORPORATION PUBLISHERS 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York (Printed in the United States of America) All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian....
26 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER I. A SUCCESSFUL BURGLARY.
CHAPTER I. A SUCCESSFUL BURGLARY.
In Thirty-fifth Street, east of Fifth Avenue, there is a house conspicuous among its neighbors in that it differs in construction by being of the variety known as the English basement style. Entrance to the house is secured through a door reached by one or two steps from the pavement. The dining-room of the house is nearly on a level with the street, while the parlors are on the second floor, reached from the lower hall by a flight of stairs. The front parlor is enlarged and the front of the hou
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER II. ANOTHER PHASE.
CHAPTER II. ANOTHER PHASE.
The next morning Nick Carter had hardly concluded his breakfast when a card was brought to him by the servant. He smiled as he read it, and, tossing it to his wife across the table, said: “I expected that call, but hardly so early.” He went into the parlor, where a middle-aged man rose to greet him. “Mr. Carter, I presume,” said the visitor. Nick bowed and requested his visitor to be seated, seating himself in such a position that the light fell on the face of his caller. “My card has given you
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER III. THE FIRST STEPS.
CHAPTER III. THE FIRST STEPS.
Nick related to his three aids, in the first place, his experiences of the night previous, when he had happened on the heels of the burglary. This he followed by a statement of the information that had been given him by Mr. Herron, and, concluding, said: “This promises to be a most interesting case. I am impressed with the straightforwardness of Mr. Herron. Still, there may be another side of his statement, or case, and he may not have been wholly frank with me, though I am inclined to believe h
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IV. OVERREACHING A SHARPER.
CHAPTER IV. OVERREACHING A SHARPER.
An hour passed, during which Spike Thomas waited as patiently as Patsy, on the opposite corner, patiently watched him. At the end of that time Spike showed by his action and his vigilance that the person or persons for whom he had watched had come into view. Presently two men crossed from the lower side of Thirty-fourth Street to the corner where Spike was standing, and as they passed him, carelessly nodded to him. Spike spoke to them and they halted. What passed between them of course Patsy cou
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER V. DRAWING THE LINES.
CHAPTER V. DRAWING THE LINES.
While Patsy was meeting with his experiences, Chick had been making inquiries as to the five promoters, each of whom had been endeavoring to obtain possession of the drawings and models of the deceased inventor. Inquiry, skillfully conducted, had satisfied Chick that at least four of them had gone no further than to make offers to the widow for possession of the drawings. In these offers, there may have been no regards for the rights of Mr. Herron, and, if the widow had accepted one of them, the
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VI. A STRANGE MEETING.
CHAPTER VI. A STRANGE MEETING.
When Patsy returned to the place he had appointed to meet Bally Morris he was surprised to find that person waiting for him with Spike Thomas. So warm was their greeting of him that Patsy began to think that they regarded him as one of their pals. As the proper way to open up the business of such importance, Spike asked Patsy to join him in a drink, and when they were ranged at the bar, Spike said: “I say, Patsy, was youse on the dead level or was youse givin’ Bally a stiff about dat case?” “No,
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VII. TAKING CHANCES.
CHAPTER VII. TAKING CHANCES.
In the meeting of Seaman, Elwell and the one Patsy said was Lannigan, Nick saw strong confirmation of the theory that he had been inclined from the first to believe. That was that one at least of the promoters who, on the inventor’s death, had tried and failed to get hold of the drawings and models through the widow, was now engaged upon the desperate enterprise of hiring a burglar to enter the house of Mr. Herron and steal them. As a result of Chick’s investigation, it appeared that Seaman was
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VIII. THE YOUNG GALLANT.
CHAPTER VIII. THE YOUNG GALLANT.
As the four men under the watch of Nick and Chick had entered the saloon as described in the last chapter, Patsy was hurrying up Third Avenue after the two crooks, Thomas and Bally Morris. What their purpose or intentions were Patsy had no idea. But as he believed that whatever errand they were on was the result of what he had told them, he suspected that in some way it was connected with the burglary in Thirty-fifth Street. In what way, however, he could not even guess. When they had left Thirt
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IX. A THIEF ROBS A THIEF.
CHAPTER IX. A THIEF ROBS A THIEF.
The result of the investigation of Chick within the barroom, and of Nick without the house, was to show that there were two entrances to the upper story. One was by the outside staircase at the rear, which had evidently been used by the four, and the other by a hallway, the door of which was on the avenue. Nick had tried and found that the door at the front of the house was locked and bolted on the other side. Chick had found that there was a door at the rear of the barroom which opened into thi
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER X. IN CLOSE PURSUIT.
CHAPTER X. IN CLOSE PURSUIT.
It was some time before Patsy’s patience in waiting in the saloon he knew to be the hang-out of Spike Thomas was rewarded. But at length Spike and Bally Morris made their appearance, and on seeing Patsy went over to him, and said: “I say, cull,” was Spike’s greeting, “get out of here with us to another joint, where we can patter a bit.” Without knowing why they wanted to go to another place, nevertheless he got up willingly and followed them out into the street. Spike led them to a place in Bond
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XI. A CHIMNEY CLEW.
CHAPTER XI. A CHIMNEY CLEW.
Patsy followed Spike Thomas and Bally Morris in their mad run from the vengeance of Lannigan. His purpose was not so much to protect them as it was to get an explanation of a matter which puzzled him. He was now convinced that Spike Thomas and his companion had entered the apartments of Lannigan and had stolen the drawings and models. But what puzzled him was when it was done. The two had been under his eyes almost continuously all day, and it vexed him to think that it should have been done wit
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XII. ON THE SEARCH.
CHAPTER XII. ON THE SEARCH.
While Patsy was on this search, Chick had been following Lannigan, whose movements about the city seemed to be marked by neither purpose nor intention. Nevertheless, Chick kept close at his heels. Nick had found Ida, and from her had learned that she had had another talk with Mrs. Pemberton, and had convinced her that Elwell, the lawyer, whom she had trusted so much, was playing her false. The principal thing to bring her into that frame of mind was the belief that he had taken the $10,000 check
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIII. A DESPERATE STRUGGLE.
CHAPTER XIII. A DESPERATE STRUGGLE.
“I have been following Lannigan and the unknown all night,” said Chick. “What have they been doing?” asked Nick. “Something that they have regarded as important, but what I am not certain.” He rapidly told his experiences of the night, the important feature of which, to Nick, was Lannigan’s visit to Rivington Street, and his entrance to a house there with the unknown, his long stay, and, finally, the hurried departure of the unknown and his running up to Fourth Street for the coach, which was br
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIV. A MYSTERIOUS WARNING.
CHAPTER XIV. A MYSTERIOUS WARNING.
As for Lannigan, the swell cracksman of Philadelphia, Nick had conceived an idea that there was real worth in the man, despite his bad record. He had a long talk with him, in which he pointed out that a trial could not but result in imprisonment. “I am absolutely sure,” Nick declared, “that if I brought you into court, you would spend the next half a dozen years in jail. There is no reason why I should let you go free, except that I believe you could be a wonderfully brilliant man and a good cit
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XV. A MISSING BRIDEGROOM.
CHAPTER XV. A MISSING BRIDEGROOM.
When Nick returned to the house of Mr. Sanborn, it had already taken on a festive air. The decorators had completed their labor and the florists had, at last, taken themselves off. It was not long after Nick had returned that the bridal party set out for the church. Within a few minutes three men made their appearance and said that they had come from the Central Detective Office, under the instructions of the authorities, to take charge of the house in the absence of Mr. Sanborn and his family.
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVI. MR. ELLISON’S PAST.
CHAPTER XVI. MR. ELLISON’S PAST.
Nick and his assistants had returned to Nick’s apartments, which were not far distant from Mr. Sanborn’s house. There, settling themselves down to look over the new case on which they were engaged, the first thing that they were confronted with was a want of knowledge as to the antecedents of Norman Ellison, who had so mysteriously disappeared. “Although Mr. Sanborn,” said Nick, “confided this thing to our hands immediately, it was no time, when he was so agitated and so anxious over the conditi
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVII. PATSY’S POINTER.
CHAPTER XVII. PATSY’S POINTER.
Nick returned to his assistants after his interview with Mr. Sanborn. He was thoughtful and perplexed. Mr. Sanborn had been unable to contribute a single idea or additional bit of information that would help Nick to a starting place. “In all my experience,” said Nick, “I have never met with just such a case. “All that we have is that a man has mysteriously disappeared at a most unexpected moment, and when his disappearance is likely to lose him all he had been striving for for two years. “Those
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVIII. IN THE TENDERLOIN.
CHAPTER XVIII. IN THE TENDERLOIN.
Chick and Patsy relied upon their knowledge of the haunts of criminals and crooks in the city to give them trace of Lannigan. It was nearly seven o’clock when they left Nick’s apartments. “I’ll bet you, Patsy,” said Chick, “that the gang working the Sanborn residence this morning was governed by our old friend Lannigan.” “I’m thinking so myself,” replied Patsy. “If that’s so,” replied Chick, “and they’re in the city yet, the place to find them to-night is in the Tenderloin, where they’ll be roll
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIX. CHICK’S STRANGE ENCOUNTER.
CHAPTER XIX. CHICK’S STRANGE ENCOUNTER.
The three detectives went to the door, but on reaching it, Merton said: “I think I’ll have to leave you here. My business will make me stay here, for I see that my man is getting pretty well loaded, and I must keep an eye on him.” Chick and Patsy therefore shook hands with him, thanking him for the assistance he had given them. While they talked at the door, a young man and a young woman entered from the street and, walking some distance into the place, suddenly stopped, peered forward earnestly
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XX. A FEMALE BOXER.
CHAPTER XX. A FEMALE BOXER.
The cabs pursued their way up Broadway until Forty-second Street was reached, when they turned, the leading cab going up that street to Fifth Avenue. As the one containing the young woman turned the corner into that avenue it halted. A young man stepped out from the shadow and entered the cab. Patsy’s cab was at a discreet distance behind it, yet Patsy thought that the young man was the same one with whom, earlier in the evening, on Broadway, he had seen the young woman when she made the change
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXI. IDA SEES MISS RAINFORTH.
CHAPTER XXI. IDA SEES MISS RAINFORTH.
The next morning Nick Carter listened with surprise and deep interest to the tale which his two efficient aids had to tell him. “When we parted last night,” he said, “there hardly seemed to be an opening anywhere in this case. The only one was that which Patsy had suggested as to Lannigan. Now, after a night’s work, there seems to be so many that they are conflicting.” “Yes,” said Chick, “it seemed very straight when Patsy suggested that we could get to the woman who had written those letters by
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXII. IDA’S TRIUMPH.
CHAPTER XXII. IDA’S TRIUMPH.
The servant led Ida up the stairs to the second floor and into a room in the front of the house, furnished most luxuriously as a sitting-room. A young woman, rather under-sized, but well proportioned, and with some claims to beauty, stood in the center of this room. Ida regarded the young woman intently. She saw that, though the features of the young lady were somewhat hard, and the expression of her face not wholly agreeable, yet she was one who would be attractive to the other sex. Her eyes we
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXIII. ON LANNIGAN’S TRAIL.
CHAPTER XXIII. ON LANNIGAN’S TRAIL.
While Ida had been having her forceful interview with Miss Rainforth, Chick and Patsy had journeyed to Philadelphia. On their way thither, on the train, they had become aware that the woman, Mrs. Ladew, was also a fellow passenger. She was alone, having no attendant. Chick had said to Patsy: “I don’t know what value there will be in following Mrs. Ladew. What she probably will do will be to go directly to her home. However, I think one of us ought to follow her to see if she has any communicatio
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXIV. A NEW MOVE.
CHAPTER XXIV. A NEW MOVE.
When they were out in the street, Chick said to Patsy: “Something’s coming off to-night at that place.” “And something’s going to be brought in a closed carriage,” added Patsy. “And we have got to be on hand to see what it is,” added Chick. The man with whom they had been talking had lagged behind a bit and now came from the saloon and joined them. “Say,” he said, “you haven’t said whether you was fly-cops or not. Well, I don’t care whether you are or not, but I give it to you straight that Demp
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXV. THE TRUTH AT LAST.
CHAPTER XXV. THE TRUTH AT LAST.
While Chick and Patsy and Ida had been engaged on their various branches of the work, Nick had been busy in following up some clews that had drifted into his hands. So that, with what his assistants had discovered and reported to him, he had come to learn the full story of the relation of Ellison to Mrs. Ladew and of Mrs. Ladew with Jimmy Lannigan. And, when Ida reported the results of her interview with Miss Rainforth, Nick realized that the rest of the story could be pieced out by Mrs. Ladew,
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XXVI. CONCLUSION.
CHAPTER XXVI. CONCLUSION.
When Patsy had met Nick at the department store, he had no opportunity to tell him of the experience of himself and Chick that day in Philadelphia. He did so now, however. Nick listened intently, and at the conclusion said: “Good. You and Chick have found out the very thing to make my story complete. We could get along without Mrs. Ladew.” Patsy was surprised at this remark, for he did not know then what had passed between Mrs. Ladew and his chief. “I guess this is where I need some information,
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter