Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1103

1900 · 16 pages

The King of the Secret Service; or, Sam Sharp's Big Score. The Romance of a Double Life by Edward Gaines Burnes, serialized in this July 1900 issue. Edmond Abbot, cashier of the Great American Banking and Trading Company, vanishes after forging securities and embezzling. His wife, unaware of his crime, received only a mysterious note claiming he left on business. President Wright acts oddly anxious about the case despite promising to cooperate with justice. Detective Lewis Pryce—nicknamed "Lightning Lew" for his speed and boldness—takes the case after Abbot's daughter Lucy hires him with funds from a letter her father left. William Draper, a young writer and millionaire, separately engages Pryce; Draper lost a $100,000 draft Abbot received but refused to process. Pryce investigates, noting Wright's suspicious behavior. A newspaper reports Abbot's hat and coat found near Wright's estate by the Hudson River, suggesting either suicide or staged disappearance.

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