In writing the following story, the author has had in view no purposeother than that of affording entertainment to such readers as areinterested in problems of crime and their solutions; and the storyitself differs in no respect from others of its class, excepting in thatan effort has been made to keep within the probabilities of ordinarylife, both in the characters and in the incidents.
Nevertheless it may happen that the book may serve a useful purpose indrawing attention to certain popular misapprehensions on the subject offinger-prints and their evidential value; misapprehensions the extent ofwhich may be judged when we learn from the newspapers that severalContinental commercial houses have actually substituted finger-printsfor signed initials.
The facts and figures contained in Mr. Singleton's evidence, includingthe very liberal estimate of the population of the globe, are, ofcourse, taken from Mr. Galton's great and important work onfinger-prints; to which the reader who is interested in the subject isreferred for much curious and valuable information.
In conclusion, the author desires to express his thanks to his friendMr. Bernard E. Bishop for the assistance rendered to him in certainphotographic experiments, and to those officers of the Central CriminalCourt who very kindly furnished him with details of the procedure incriminal trials.
CHAPTER I
MY LEARNED BROTHER
CHAPTER II
THE SUSPECT
CHAPTER III
A LADY IN THE CASE
CHAPTER IV
CONFIDENCES
CHAPTER V
THE "THUMBOGRAPH"
CHAPTER VI
COMMITTED FOR TRIAL
CHAPTER VII
SHOALS AND QUICKSANDS
CHAPTER VIII
A SUSPICIOUS ACCIDENT
CHAPTER IX
THE PRISONER
CHAPTER X
POLTON IS MYSTIFIED
CHAPTER XI
THE AMBUSH
CHAPTER XII
IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
CHAPTER XIII
MURDER BY POST
CHAPTER XIV
A STARTLING DISCOVERY
CHAPTER XV
THE FINGER-PRINT EXPERTS
CHAPTER XVI
THORNDYKE PLAYS HIS CARD
CHAPTER XVII
AT LAST
"Conflagratam An° 1677. Fabricatam An° 1698. Richardo Powell ArmigerThesaurar." The words, set in four panels, which formed a frieze beneaththe pediment of a fine brick portico, summarised the history of one ofthe tall houses at the upper end of King's Bench Walk and as I, somewhatabsently, read over the inscription, my attention was divided betweenadmiration of the exquisitely finished carved brickwork and the quietdignity of the building, and an effort to reconstitute the dead and goneRichard Powell, and the stirring times in which he played his part.
I was about to turn away when the empty frame of the portico becameoccupied