Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 833

This 1898 Beadle and Adams pulp magazine contains "Broadway Billy; or, The Italian's Doubles" by J.C. Cowdrick, author of "Broadway Billy" novels. The serial detective fiction follows the young metropolitan detective Billy Weston as he receives a baffling murder case from his superintendent. Charles Hayzley, a gentleman who had sought police protection claiming his life was in danger due to a secret he possessed, is found garroted in his locked bedroom—doors and windows secured from inside, the murder weapon gone, and no apparent means of escape for the killer. Hayzley had named Paul Vienett as a threat but denied further disclosure. The mystery deepens when Vienett himself appears at Billy's office seeking his detective services: he reveals he is an Italian-American businessman aware of a man in the city bearing striking physical resemblance to him who has impersonated him for disreputable purposes, and suspicion for Hayzley's murder has fallen upon him. Billy's assistants, Happy Harry and Silent Seth, await developments.