Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 745

Joe Phenix's Mad Case This issue features the opening installments of "The Doomed Syndicate" by Albert W. Aiken, author of the Joe Phenix detective series. The serial centers on Joe Phenix, a celebrated detective, and his partner Mignon Lawrence, a wealthy actress-detective with keen investigative talents. When they meet on Broadway near Madison Square, Mignon expresses frustration at lacking challenging work. Phenix reveals that a wealthy western mining speculator named Doffheimer, whom Mignon despises from her time acting in Colorado, has offered him a commission to arrange a marriage between them. Doffheimer claims to possess considerable wealth from mining speculation and declares his infatuation with Mignon, asserting he would pay generously for a match. Phenix declined the offer, and Doffheimer responded with anger and insults. The narrative suggests this encounter may precipitate the mystery that becomes "the doomed syndicate."