The Cipher Detective

Mark Magic on a New Trail *Published by Chesdale & Adams, March 18, 1885* This issue opens with "Mark Magic on a New Trail" by Anthony P. Morris, a detective serial. A mysterious cry of "Murder!" rings out on St. Paul Street in Baltimore, perplexing a patrolman and a bystander. A refined woman directs them to a house whose windows remain closed except one, from which the cry emanated. Simultaneously, a saturnine gentleman named Michael Ensor visits the marshal's office claiming his niece Erminie is a raving maniac requiring asylum placement. The marshal suspects deception—noting makeup on Ensor's face—and tasks his shrewd detective Mark Magic with investigation. Magic disguises himself as "Doctor Bayne Bramble," a physician, and visits the Ensor residence where he meets the apparently nervous Mrs. Ensor. She explains Erminie has suffered mental illness since her mother's death, with the condition worsening. Magic learns the niece is nearly twenty-one and has lived under their care for years.