37 chapters
7 hour read
Selected Chapters
37 chapters
JUST BEFORE WE WERE OFF A TELEGRAM CAME TO HER, WHICH SHE READ AND HASTILY STUFFED INTO A POCKET OF HER RIDING HABIT
JUST BEFORE WE WERE OFF A TELEGRAM CAME TO HER, WHICH SHE READ AND HASTILY STUFFED INTO A POCKET OF HER RIDING HABIT
CHAPTER I. The Social Gangster CHAPTER II. The Cabaret Rouge CHAPTER III. The Fox Hunt CHAPTER IV. The Tango Thief CHAPTER V. The "Thé Dansant" CHAPTER VI. The Serum Diagnosis CHAPTER VII. The Diamond Queen CHAPTER VIII. The Anesthetic Vaporizer CHAPTER IX. The Twilight Sleep CHAPTER X. The Sixth Sense CHAPTER XI. The Infernal Machines CHAPTER XII. The Submarine Bell CHAPTER XIII. The Super-Toxin CHAPTER XIV. The Secret Agents CHAPTER XV. The Germ of Anthrax CHAPTER XVI. The Sleepmaker CHAPTER X
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE SOCIAL GANGSTER
THE SOCIAL GANGSTER
"I'm so worried over Gloria, Professor Kennedy, that I hardly know what I'm doing." Mrs. Bradford Brackett was one of those stunning women of baffling age of whom there seem to be so many nowadays. One would scarcely have believed that she could be old enough to have a daughter who would worry her very much. Her voice trembled and almost broke as she proceeded with her story, and, looking closer, I saw that, at least now, her face showed marks of anxiety that told on her more than would have bee
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE CABARET ROUGE
THE CABARET ROUGE
It was a perfect autumn afternoon, one of those days when one who is normal feels the call to get out of doors and enjoy what is left of the fine weather before the onset of winter. We strode along in the bracing air until at last we turned into Broadway at the upper end of what might be called "Automobile Row." Motor cars and taxicabs were buzzing along in an endless stream, most of them filled with women, gowned and bonneted in the latest mode. Before the garish entrance of the Cabaret Rouge t
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE FOX HUNT
THE FOX HUNT
The next day was that of the hunt and we motored out to the North Shore Hunt Club. It was a splendid day and the ride was just enough to put an edge on the meet that was to follow. We pulled up at last before the rambling colonial building which the Hunt Club boasted as its home. Mrs. Brackett was waiting for us already with horses from the Brackett stables. "I'm so glad you came," she greeted us aside. "Gloria is here—under protest. That young man over there, talking to her, is Ritter Smith. 'R
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE TANGO THIEF
THE TANGO THIEF
"My husband has such a jealous disposition. He will never believe the truth—never!" Agatha Seabury moved nervously in the deep easy chair beside Kennedy's desk, leaning forward, uncomfortably, the tense lines marring the beauty of her fine features. Kennedy tilted his desk chair back in order to study her face. "You say you have never written a line to the fellow nor he to you?" he asked. "Not a line, not a scrap,—until I received that typewritten letter about which I just told you," she repeate
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE "THE DANSANT"
THE "THE DANSANT"
I felt, however, that Seabury accepted this conclusion reluctantly, in fact with a sort of mental reservation not to cease activity himself. The remainder of the forenoon, and for some time during the early afternoon, Craig plunged into one of his periods of intense work and abstraction at the laboratory. It was, indeed, a most unusual and delicate test which he was making. For one thing, I noticed that he had, in a sterilizer, some peculiar granular tissue that had been sent to him from a hospi
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE SERUM DIAGNOSIS
THE SERUM DIAGNOSIS
We paid our check and Kennedy and I sauntered in the direction Sherburne had taken, finding him ultimately in the cafe, alone. Without further introduction Kennedy approached him. "So—you are a detective?" sneered Sherburne superciliously, elevating his eyebrows just the fraction of an inch. "Not exactly," parried Kennedy, seating himself beside Sherburne. Then in a tone as if he were willing to get down, without further preliminary, to business, seemingly negotiating, he asked: "Mr. Sherburne,
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE DIAMOND QUEEN
THE DIAMOND QUEEN
"Meet Sylvania Quarantine midnight. Strange death Rawaruska. Retain you in interest steamship company. Thompson, Purser." Kennedy had torn open the envelope of a wireless message that had come from somewhere out in the Atlantic and had just been delivered to him at dinner one evening. He read it quickly and tossed it over to me. "Rawaruska," I repeated. "Do you suppose that means the clever little Russian dancer who was in the 'Revue' last year?" "There could hardly be two of that unusual name w
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE ANESTHETIC VAPORIZER
THE ANESTHETIC VAPORIZER
Craig had completed a hasty search of the room, with its little dressing table, two trunks, and a cabinet. Everything seemed to have been kept in a most neat and orderly manner by the attentive Cecilie, who was apparently a model servant. The little white bathroom was equally immaculate, and Kennedy passed next to an examination of the little room of the French maid. Cecilie was a pretty, dark little being, with snapping black eyes, the type of winsome French maid that one would naturally have e
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE TWILIGHT SLEEP
THE TWILIGHT SLEEP
As I entered the laboratory I saw before him a peculiar, telescope-like instrument, at one end of which, in a jar of oxygen, something was burning with a brilliant, penetrating flame. He paused in his work and I hastened to tell him of the peculiar experience I had had in the forenoon. But he said nothing, even at the significant actions of Dr. Preston. "How about those things you found in the maid's room?" I asked at length. "Do they explain Rawaruska's death?" "The trouble with them," he repli
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE SIXTH SENSE
THE SIXTH SENSE
"I suppose you have read in the papers of the mysterious burning of our country house at Oceanhurst, on the south shore of Long Island?" It had been about the middle of the afternoon that a huge automobile of the latest design drew up at Kennedy's laboratory and a stylishly dressed woman, accompanied by a very attentive young man, alighted. They had entered and the man, with a deep bow, presented two cards bearing the names of the Count and Countess Alessandro Rovigno. Julia Rovigno, I knew, was
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE INFERNAL MACHINES
THE INFERNAL MACHINES
He ripped the little mechanical eavesdropper out, wires and all, but he did not disconnect the wires, yet. We traced it out, and down into the cellar the wires led, directly, and then across, through a small opening in the foundations into the next cellar of an apartment house, ending in a bin or storeroom. In itself the thing, so far, gave no clew as to who was using it or the purpose for which it had been installed. But it was strange. "Someone was evidently trying to get something from you, M
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE SUBMARINE BELL
THE SUBMARINE BELL
Kennedy groped about for a light, stumbling over boxes and bags. "For heaven's sake, Craig," I entreated. "Be careful. Those packages are full of the devilish things!" He said nothing. At least we had a little more freedom to move and I managed to find my way over to a little round porthole and open it. As I looked out, I almost fainted at the realization. The Furious was under way! We were locked in the hold—virtual prisoners—our only company those dastardly infernal machines, whose very nature
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE SUPER-TOXIN
THE SUPER-TOXIN
"I've got to make good in this Delaney case, Kennedy," appealed our old friend, Dr. Leslie, the coroner, one evening when he had dropped unexpectedly into the laboratory, looking particularly fagged and discouraged. "You know," he added, "they've been investigating my office—and now, here comes a case which, I must confess, completely baffles us again." "Delaney," mused Craig. "Let me see. That's the rich Texas rancher who has been blazing a trail through the white lights of Broadway—with that B
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE SECRET AGENTS
THE SECRET AGENTS
Dr. Leslie looked at Haynes searchingly. "Who was it?" he asked. "Madame Dupres?" Haynes did not hesitate. "Yes," he nodded. "I had an appointment with her and told her that if I was late it would probably be that I had stopped here." The answer came so readily that I must confess that I was suspicious of it. "Did Madame Dupres know the Baroness Von Dorf?" asked Craig quickly. "Yes, indeed," returned Haynes, then stopped suddenly. "But they didn't travel in the same circle, did they?" asked Dr.
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE GERM OF ANTHRAX
THE GERM OF ANTHRAX
It was not until the middle of the afternoon that there came a sudden, brief message from the Secret Service in Washington: Mr. Craig Kennedy, New York. I have located the Baroness Von Dorf in a private sanitarium here and will have her in New York tonight by eight o'clock. Burke. "In a private sanitarium—will have her in New York tonight," reread Craig, studying the message. "Then it wouldn't seem that there could be much the matter with her." For a few moments he paced the laboratory floor, al
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE SLEEPMAKER
THE SLEEPMAKER
"Perhaps race-horses may be a little out of your line, Mr. Kennedy, but I think you will find the case sufficiently interesting to warrant you in taking it up." Our visitor was a young man, one of the most carefully groomed and correctly dressed I have ever met. His card told us that we were honored by a visit from Montague Broadhurst, a noted society whip, who had lavished many thousands of dollars on his racing-stable out on Long Island. "You see," he went on hurriedly, "there have been a good
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE INTER-URBAN HANDICAP
THE INTER-URBAN HANDICAP
That night, instead of going to the laboratory, we walked down Broadway until we came to a hotel much frequented by the sporting fraternity. We entered the restaurant, which was one of the most brilliant in the white-light region, took a seat at a table, and Kennedy proceeded to ingratiate himself with the waiter, and, finally, with the head waiter. At last, I saw why Kennedy was apparently wasting so much time over dinner. "Do you happen to know that girl, Cecilie Safford, that Broadhurst's tra
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE TOXIN OF FATIGUE
THE TOXIN OF FATIGUE
He gave me no time for questions, and I had no ability to reconstruct my own theory of the case as we hustled into our clothes to catch the early morning train. "Broadhurst is at the Idlewild Hotel," Kennedy said, as we left the apartment, "and I think we can make it quicker by railway than by motor." The turfman met us at the station. "Tell me just what happened," asked Kennedy. "No one seems to understand just what it was," Broadhurst explained, "but, as nearly as I remember, Murchie was the l
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE X-RAY DETECTIVE
THE X-RAY DETECTIVE
"I want to consult you, Professor Kennedy, about a most baffling case of sudden death under suspicious circumstances. Blythe is my name—Dr. Blythe." Our visitor spoke deliberately, without the least perturbation of manner, yet one could see that he was a physician who only as a last resort would appeal to outside aid. "What is the case, Doctor?" queried Craig. The Doctor cleared his throat. "It is of a very pretty young art student, Rhoda Fleming, who returned to New York from France shortly aft
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE MECHANICAL CONNOISSEUR
THE MECHANICAL CONNOISSEUR
Dr. Leslie, the Coroner, was an old friend of ours with whom we had co-operated in several cases. When we reached his office we found Dr. Blythe there already, waiting for us. "Have you found anything yet?" asked Dr. Blythe with what I felt was just a trace of professional pique at the fact that neither physician had been able to shed any light on the case so far. "I can't say—yet," responded Craig, not noticing Blythe's manner, as from the piece of tissue paper in which he had wrapped them he p
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE RADIOGRAPH WITNESS
THE RADIOGRAPH WITNESS
It was apparent that quick action was necessary if the mystery was ever to be solved. Kennedy evidently thought so, too, for he did not wait even until he returned to his laboratory to set in motion, through our old friend, Commissioner O'Connor, the machinery that would result in warrants to compel the attendance at the laboratory of all those interested in the case. Then he called up Dr. Leslie and finally Dr. Blythe himself. Back again in the laboratory, Kennedy employed the time in developin
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE ABSOLUTE ZERO
THE ABSOLUTE ZERO
"Isn't there some way you can save him, Professor Kennedy? You must come out to Briar Lake." When a handsome woman like Mrs. Fraser Ferris pleads, she is irresistible. Not only that, but the story which she had not trusted either to a message or a messenger was deeply interesting, for, already, it had set agog the fashionable country house colony. Mrs. Ferris had come to us not as the social leader now, but as a mother. Only the night before her son, young Fraser, had been arrested by the local
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE VACUUM BOTTLE
THE VACUUM BOTTLE
Fortunately, Dean Allison was at the Club, as we hoped, having just arrived by the train that left New York at the close of the banking day. Someone told us, however, that Wyndham had probably decided to remain in town over night. Allison was perhaps a little older than I had imagined, rather a grave young man who seemed to take his club responsibilities on the Council very seriously. "I'd like to talk to you about this Evans case," began Craig when we had been introduced. "Glad to tell you all
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE SOLAR PLEXUS
THE SOLAR PLEXUS
It was after the dinner hour that we found ourselves at the Country Club again. Wyndham had not come back from the city, but Allison was there and had gathered together all the Club help so that Kennedy might question them. He did question them down in the locker-room, I thought perhaps for the moral effect. The chef, whom I had suspected of knowing something, was there, but proved to be unenlightening. In fact, no one seemed to have anything to contribute. Quite the contrary. They could not eve
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE DEMON ENGINE
THE DEMON ENGINE
"Perpetual motion sounds foolish, I'll admit. But, Professor Kennedy, this Creighton self-acting motor does things I can't explain." Craig looked perplexed as he gazed from Adele Laidlaw, his young and very pretty client, to me. We had heard a great deal about the young lady, one of the wealthiest heiresses of the country. She paused a moment and looked at us, evidently thinking of the many schemes which people had devised to get her money away from her. "Really," she went on, "I haven't a frien
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE ELECTROLYSIS CLEW
THE ELECTROLYSIS CLEW
As Kennedy walked through the corridor of the building, he paused and bent down, as though examining the wall. I looked, too. There was a crack in the concrete, in the side wall toward the Creighton laboratory. "Do you suppose vibration caused it?" I asked, remembering his watch crystal test. Craig shook his head. "The vibrations in a building can be shown by a watch glass full of water. You saw the surface of the liquid with its minute waves. There's vibration, all right, but that is not the ca
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE
THE PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE
I tried my best, but there was very little that I could find out about Mrs. Barry. No one seemed to know where she came from, and even "Mr. Barry" seemed shrouded in obscurity. I was convinced, however, that she was an adventuress. One thing, however, I did turn up. She had called on Tresham at his office a number of times, usually late in the afternoon, and he had taken her to dinner and to the theater. Apparently he knew her a great deal better than he had been willing to admit to us. I was no
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE CANCER HOUSE
THE CANCER HOUSE
"You've heard of such things as cancer houses, I suppose, Professor Kennedy?" It was early in the morning and Craig's client, Myra Moreton, as she introduced herself, had been waiting at the laboratory door in a state of great agitation as we came up. Just because her beautiful face was pale and haggard with worry, she was a pathetic figure, as she stood there, dressed in deep mourning, the tears standing in her eyes merely because we were a little later than usual. "Well," she hurried on as she
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE QUACK DOCTORS
THE QUACK DOCTORS
Kennedy's first move was to go downtown to the old building opposite the City Hall and visit the post-office inspectors. "I've heard of the government's campaign against the medical quacks who are using the mails," he introduced when we at last found the proper inspector. "I wonder whether you know a Dr. Adam Loeb?" "Loeb?" repeated the inspector, O'Hanlon, who was in charge of the investigation which was then in progress. "Of course we know Loeb—a very slippery customer, too, with just enough s
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE FILTERABLE VIRUS
THE FILTERABLE VIRUS
I was surprised to run into O'Hanlon himself in the train out to Norwood. The failure to get Dr. Loeb troubled him and he had reasoned that if Darius Moreton took the trouble to write a letter about his friend he might possibly know more of his whereabouts than he professed. We discussed the case nearly the whole journey, agreeing to separate just before we reached the station in order not to be seen together. It took me longer to carry out Kennedy's request than I had expected. I found Myra at
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE VOODOO MYSTERY
THE VOODOO MYSTERY
"Everybody's crazy, Kennedy. The whole world is going mad!" Our old friend, Burke, of the Secret Service, scowled at the innocent objects in Craig's laboratory as he mopped his broad forehead. "And the Secret Service is as bad as the rest," he went on, still scowling and not waiting for any comment from us. "Why, what with these European spies and agitators, strikers and dynamiters, we're nearly dippy. Here, in less than a week I've been shifted off war cases to Mexico and now to Hayti. I don't
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE FLUORISCINE TEST
THE FLUORISCINE TEST
Our trip over to the other borough was uneventful except for the toilsome time we had to get to the docks where South and Central American ships were moored. We boarded the Haytien at last and Burke led us along the deck toward a cabin. I looked about curiously. There seemed to be the greatest air of suppressed excitement. Everyone was talking, in French, too, which seemed strange to me in people of their color. Yet everything seemed to be in whispers as if they were in fear. We entered the cabi
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE RESPIRATION CALORIMETER
THE RESPIRATION CALORIMETER
It was early the next morning, about half an hour after the time set for the release of the passengers, that our laboratory door was flung open and Collette Aux Cayes rushed in, wildly excited. "What's the matter?" asked Kennedy anxiously. "Someone has been trying to keep me on the boat," she panted. "And all the way over here a man has been following me." Kennedy looked at her a minute calmly. We could understand why she might have been shadowed, though it must have been a bungling job of Burke
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE EVIL EYE
THE EVIL EYE
"You don't know the woman who is causing the trouble. You haven't seen her eyes. But—Madre de Dios!—my father is a changed man. Sometimes I think he is—what you call—mad!" Our visitor spoke in a hurried, nervous tone, with a marked foreign accent which was not at all unpleasing. She was a young woman, unmistakably beautiful, of the dark Spanish type and apparently a South American. "I am Señorita Inez de Mendoza of Lima, Peru," she introduced herself, as she leaned forward in her chair in a high
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE BURIED TREASURE
THE BURIED TREASURE
Señora de Moche—for I had no doubt now that this was the Peruvian Indian woman of whom Señorita Inez had spoken—seemed to lose interest in us and in the concert the moment Don Luis went out. Her son also seemed restive. He was a good-looking fellow, with high forehead, nose slightly aquiline, chin and mouth firm, in fact the whole face refined and intellectual, though tinged with melancholy. We strolled down the wide veranda, and as we passed the woman and her son I was conscious of that strange
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE WEED OF MADNESS
THE WEED OF MADNESS
In my absence Craig had set to work on a peculiar apparatus, as though he were distilling something from several of the other cigarette stubs. I placed the cat in a basket and watched Craig until finally he seemed to be rewarded for his patient labors. It was well along toward morning when he obtained in a test-tube a few drops of a colorless, almost odorless liquid. I watched him curiously as he picked the cat out of the basket and held it gently in his arms. With a dropper he sucked up a bit o
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter