Produced by Annie McGuire
HE WAS STEADFASTLY WATCHING THE GIRL]
Ashton-KirkCriminologist
BYJohn T. McIntyre
Author of "Ashton-Kirk Investigator,""Ashton-Kirk Secret Agent," "Ashton-KirkSpecial Detective," etc.
ILLUSTRATIONS BYRALPH L. BOYER
THE PENN PUBLISHINGCOMPANY PHILADELPHIA1918
COPYRIGHT1918 BYTHE PENNPUBLISHINGCOMPANY
_To my friend__Edward W. Mumford_
INTRODUCTION
It is always a task of much difficulty to select an experience ofAshton-Kirk's from among the many which have been set down in therecords under his name.
A maze of episodes in these records attracts the mind, and one findsthere a train of singular adventures, any one of which would make abook. The experiences which go to make up the volume "Ashton-Kirk,Investigator" were chosen because they dealt with a rather arabesquemurder, the hidden features of which were brought to light in anextraordinary way. In "Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent," the elements seemeduniquely mixed, and shed an unusual light upon the windings of Europeandiplomacy.
In the third volume, "Ashton-Kirk, Special Detective," the note ofhorror was rung shrilly, and the confident talents of this extraordinaryyoung man were brought smartly into play. It may be that the appearancein this history of the detective's big, good-natured, strong-handedfriend, Bat Scanlon, had something to do with its finding a place inthis series. In the present book this engaging personality has again apart in the drama.
But aside from this influence, the episode makes a powerful appeal; thebrilliancy of the criminologist's work in the case treated here wouldsurely have compelled a place for it in any list of his experiences.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE GATHERING CLOUD 11
II. BAT SCANLON IS SURPRISED 21
III. THE CLOUD GROWS DARKER 32
IV. ASHTON-KIRK MAKES ONE VISIT, AND PLANS ANOTHER 50
V. THE HOUND AND THE SCENT 68
VI. ASHTON-KIRK ASKS QUESTIONS 79
VII. SOME NEW DEVELOPMENTS 88
VIII. SCANLON MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE 100
IX. A PLACE OF FEAR 113
X. THROUGH THE WINDOW 124
XI. DENNISON TALKS ONCE MORE 132
XII. A DOUBLE SHADOW 142
XIII. SOMETHING UNEXPECTED 157
XIV. ASHTON-KIRK VISITS HEADQUARTERS 170
XV. SCANLON STATES HIS POSITION 179
XVI. "CONFESSED!" 192
XVII. THE WATERS ARE TROUBLED 203
XVIII. NORA GOES TO STANWICK 216
XIX. IN THE DARK 225
XX. QUEER INTELLIGENCE 234
XXI. WHAT THE BURGLAR SAID AT GAFFNEY'S 243
XXII. WHAT DANNY SAW AT QUIGLEY'S 260
XXIII. A WOMAN! 270
XXIV. MR. QUIGLEY IS INTERVIEWED 285
XXV. NORA TALKS AND SCANLON LISTENS 297
XXVI. CONCLUSION 309
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
HE WAS STEADFASTLY WATCHING THE GIRL _Frontispiece_
"EVERY CHAMBER LOADED" 74
HE LIFTED THE BLADE ONCE MORE 146
THEN THE DOOR SWUNG OPEN 294
Ashton-Kirk, Criminologist Page 1