NF (1998) The Napoleon of Crime
Page 36
5 “The man pervades London” Conan Doyle, “The Final Problem,” in Vol. II, p. 303.
6 “who, in his estimation” C. McCluer Stevens, p. 38.
7 “Fancy the long sustained” Quoted in Dilnot, p. 657; also McCluer Stevens, p. 39.
8 “He is extremely tall and thin” Conan Doyle, “The Final Problem,” in Vol. II, p. 304.
9 “cases of the most varying” ibid., p. 303.
10 “a very respectable” Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear, in Vol. I, p. 478.
11 “one million and two hundred” ibid., p. 479.
A painting of a little girl with a lamb attributed to Greuze does exist, but it is titled Innocence. A painting of this name was sold at the Paris Pourtales Gallery of Art (Holmes corrupts this to “Portalis”) in 1865 for 100,200 francs, or £4,000. In 1918 it was shown to be a copy of the original Innocence by Greuze, now in the Wallace Collection in London. In fact, as The Times Literary Supplement noted on July 1, 1960, “the sale room price of a Greuze has never exceeded the 129,000 francs given for ‘Les Oeufs Cassées’ at the Demidoff sale in 1870.”
12 “young girl with lamb” I am indebted to Charles Higham, who notes this clue in his book The Adventures of Conan Doyle (New York, 1976), p. 114.
13 “It is said that” “The Story of a Picture,” World, April 11, 1877.
14 “shortly after the turn” Wayne G. Broehl, The Molly Maguires (Cambridge, Mass., 1964), vi, p. 409.
15 “almost a paraphrase of” ibid.
16 “raised the roof when” Interview with Ralph Dudley, 1948, by James Horan, quoted in Horan, p. 499.
17 “At first he talked” ibid.
18 “The Worth family name” Bob Robinson, The Illustrious Convert, unpublished address to South Carolina Sherlockian group, The Handsome Wheels.
19 “great criminal” Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Illustrious Client, in Vol. II, p. 675.
20 “violin virtuoso” ibid.
21 “very dangerous villain” ibid.
22 “agent in the huge criminal” ibid.
23 “a slim, flame-like woman” ibid., p. 677.
24 “lucent top hat” ibid., p. 672.
25 “more dangerous than” ibid.
26 “He has expensive tastes” ibid., p. 675.
27 “who collects women” ibid., p. 678.
28 “beast-man” ibid., p. 680.
29 “a real aristocrat” ibid., p. 676.
TWENTY-FOUR
1 “broken in health and” Adam Worth, p. 18.
2 “a mental and physical wreck” William to Robert Pinkerton, Feb. 12, 1902, PA.
3 “This is one of the causes” ibid.
4 “The thieves entered the place” New York Evening Journal, Nov. 1, 1897.
5 “The shop was considered” London News, Nov. 2, 1897.
6 “Fisher did not say” Memo, PA.
7 “He had lost some” Dilnot, p. 661.
8 “The French had begun to” Worth’s Confession, p. 12.
9 “The stuff” ibid.
10 “a sporting man known” Adam Worth, p. 18.
11 “made a living by the” Dilnot, p. 662.
12 “controlled the Gainsborough” Adam Worth, p. 18.
13 “the only man he would” Worth’s Confession, p. 1.
14 “under no circumstances” ibid.
15 “that I was a nice fellow” ibid.
16 “He felt sure that there” ibid.
17 “America’s leading” Chicago Observer, cited in Horan, p. 456.
18 “fondness for animals” Chicago Tribune, cited in ibid.
19 “I am too good” ibid., p. 482.
20 “Letter awaiting you” Worth’s Confession, p. 1.
21 “a strange man had called” Adam Worth, p. 18.
22 “Dear Sir,” Quoted in Esterow, pp. 196–97.
23 “I recognised at once” Worth’s Confession, p. 1.
24 “On the 12th I received” ibid.
25 “I wanted him spotted” ibid.
26 “With the exception” ibid., p. 2.
27 “had indications of a man” ibid., p. 5.
28 “I weighed him up carefully” ibid., p. 13.
29 “Well, I came to see you” ibid., p. 3.
TWENTY-FIVE
1 “in gossiping frame of mind” Worth’s Confession, p. 6.
2 “The Lady should” Horan, p. 316.
3 “I consider this man” ibid., p. 2.
4 “he had always fancied” ibid., p. 7.
5 “a very handsome” ibid., p. 10.
6 “Of course you cannot tell” ibid.
7 “and he said with tears” ibid., p. 8.
8 “He said that he had” ibid., p. 13.
9 “Of course I want to get” ibid.
10 “The great Supt. Byrnes” ibid., p. 5.
11 “somebody was faking” ibid., p. 9.
12 “I asked him how” ibid., p. 12.
13 “he would gladly give” ibid., p. 14.
14 “under no circumstances” Adam Worth, p. 19.
15 “I got talking to him” Worth’s Confession, p. 11.
16 “Before going away” ibid., p. 14.
17 “He seemed in good faith” Quoted in Horan, p. 316.
18 “Now, I do not know whether” Worth’s Confession, p. 10.
19 “I believe I can make” ibid., p. 13.
TWENTY-SIX
1 “New Scotland Yard had been” Adam Worth, p. 19.
2 “a rich American” History of Agnew’s, 1817–1967 (London, privately printed, 1967), Appendix III, p. 81 (henceforth, Agnew’s history).
3 “suggests that the matter” ibid., p. 82.
4 “there should be” Adam Worth, p. 19.
5 “Sheedy took the position” ibid.
6 “Inspector Froest” Agnew’s history, p. 81.
7 “Would not a man offering” The Gainsborough Duchess, p. 23.
8 “For the time being” Adam Worth, p. 20.
9 “We must have a distinct” William Pinkerton to Messrs Lewis and Lewis, solicitors, Chicago, July 10, 1899, PA.
10 “he is not in any sense” ibid.
11 “would allow him” Adam Worth, p. 20.
12 “If the Agnews would” ibid.
13 “cross the ocean” George Bangs to Robert Pinkerton, Jan. 16, 1900, PA.
14 “They may be the men using” ibid.
15 “the Pinkertons received” Adam Worth, p. 20.
16 “insisted that he should” Dilnot, p. 662.
17 “Mr. Pinkerton at once” Adam Worth, p. 20.
18 “When it was known” ibid.
19 “It was a secret known” London Evening News, April 11, 1901.
20 “for fear, in his excitement” Agnew’s history, p. 82.
21 “I have news compelling” Morland Agnew, diary, quoted in Agnew’s history.
22 “Mother was rather nervous” ibid.
23 “These Yankees do eat” Morland Agnew to Daisy Agnew, March 17, 1901, AA.
24 “I spent an exceedingly” London Evening News, April 10, 1901, p. 2.
25 “damper to all the hopes” ibid.
26 “fine, well-set up man” ibid.
27 “You will have the Duchess” Esterow, p. 200.
28 “Personally, I was too” London Evening News, April 10, 1901, p. 2.
29 “That’s a lot of money” Agnew’s history, p. 82.
30 “As the hour approached” ibid.; also London Evening News, April 10, 1901, p. 2.
31 “About a quarter of an hour” ibid.
32 “By and by there came” Agnew’s history, p. 83.
33 “adult messenger” ibid. Agnew’s emphasis on the distinctive age, insouciance, and silence of the messenger all suggest strongly that this was Adam Worth and that the art dealer, for all his later claims, knew it. Pinkerton’s subsequent refusal to identify Worth’s whereabouts during this transaction, when he was so free with all other details, is further evidence that the elderly bellboy was Worth himself.
34 “When he had gone” ibid.
35 “watched his features” Adam Worth, p. 21.
36 “I looked up at detective” Agnew’s history, p. 83.
37 “I am positive the picture” Adam Worth, p. 21.
38 “Well, I am glad it is” London Evening News, April 10, 1901, p. 2.
39 “Then we went to a shop” Agnew’s history, p. 83.
40 “I hung it up on a peg” ibid.
41 “On arriving in New York” ibid.
42 “Some 25 years ago a very” Morland Agnew to Daisy Agnew, March 31, 1901, AA.
43 “our grateful acknowledgement” Morland Agnew to William Pinkerton, March 31, 1901, AA.
44 “I told the Purser” Agnew’s history, p. 83.
45 “If the customs officers” Adam Worth, p. 21.
46 “Mother and some of the ladies” Morland Agnew to Daisy Agnew, March 31, 1901, AA.
47 “a decayed millionaire” Daily Express, April 9, 1901, p. 5.
48 “arranged through our” William Pinkerton to Moreland Agnew, Chicago, April 8, 1901, AA.
49 “positively untrue” Evening Standard, April 10, 1901, p. 1.
TWENTY-SEVEN
1 “going back to England” Adam Worth, p. 22.
2 “than the assessed value” Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States (New York, 1990), p. 316.
3 “His butler said that” Bishop Lawrence, quoted in Cass Canfield, The Incredible Pierpont Morgan (New York, 1974), p. 114.
4 “I was determined” ibid.
5 “Going to London” Delos Avery, Kidnapping Done in Oil, article in PA.
6 “The Napoleon of Wall Street” Jonathan Hughes, The Vital Few (Boston, 1966), p. 404.
7 “saw the Civil War” Chernow, p. 22.
8 “This was a day of corruption” George Wheeler, Pierpont Morgan and Friends—The Anatomy of a Myth (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1973), p. 131.
9 “anybody who even has” Frederick Lewis Allen, The Great Pierpont Morgan (New York, 1949), p. 154.
10 “The man who had accumulated” ibid., pp. 111–12.
11 “there were two Pierponts” Chernow, p. 35.
12 “Never under any circumstances” ibid., p. 26.
13 “I commit my soul” Allen, p. 13.
14 “generally behaved himself” Wheeler, p. 132.
15 “That’s nothing” Chernow, p. 115.
16 “smile, and smile” William Shakespeare, Hamlet, I:v, 105.
17 “a high-minded young girl” Wheeler, p. 82.
18 “a young and delicate” ibid., p. 83.
19 “reminiscence of Mimi” ibid., p. 84.
20 “is true of all” John Fowles, The Magus (London, 1977), p. 178.
21 “a deeply sentimental” Chernow, p. 42.
TWENTY-EIGHT
1 “Down the gangway” Daily Express, April 9, 1901, p. 5.
2 “Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan” Daily Express, April 10, 1901.
3 “fondness and keen” ibid.
4 “Mr Morgan’s vaulting” ibid.
5 “save for the slightest” London Evening News, April 10, 1901, p. 2.
6 “in a beautiful” Times, April 9, 1901, p. 8.
7 “Father telegraphs his delight” Agnew’s history, p. 84.
8 “that the thief fought” Evening Standard, April 10, 1901, p. 1.
9 “the police in both England” ibid.
10 “So far as I know it” Agnew’s history, p. 84; also London Evening News, April 10, 1901, p. 2.
11 “romance as strange as” Daily Telegraph, April 9, 1901.
12 “the third sensational” Times, April 10, 1901, p. 4.
13 “that the man who stole” Times, April 9, 1901, p. 8.
14 “Its authentic history” Times, April 10, 1901, p. 4.
15 “Papers full of reports” Agnew’s history, p. 84.
16 “The Dear Old Dutch” London Evening News, Thurs., April 11, 1901.
17 “We have been literally” Evening Standard, April 10, 1901, p. 1.
18 “Her value must have” London Evening News, April 9, 1901, p. 2.
19 “You may take my word” London Evening News, April 10, 1901, p. 2.
20 “The newspaper reporters” William Pinkerton to C. Morland Agnew, Chicago, April 8, 1901, AA.
21 “Now that the ‘stolen duchess’ ” London Evening News, April 9, 1901, p. 2.
22 “the real Gainsborough” Photograph in AA.
23 “It is to be hoped” The Gainsborough Duchess, p. 29.
24 “Now that the picture” London Evening News, April 10, 1901, p. 2.
25 “My ship was faster” Canfield, p. 114.
26 “but Mr Morgan was given” New York Herald, Feb. 7, 1902.
27 “subject to Sir William” Thos. Agnew & Sons to J. Pierpont Morgan, April 12, 1901, AA; also Agnew’s history, p. 84.
28 “I have this morning” Agnew’s history, pp. 84–85.
29 “a reporter flatly” ibid., p. 84.
30 “more columns of newspapers” Satterlee, p. 352.
31 “This was one of the many” ibid.
32 “Nobody will ever know” ibid., p. 353.
33 “rather hastily” Morland Agnew to William Pinkerton, Nov. 19, 1902, PA.
34 “What else have you for sale?” New York Times, Aug. 11, 1963, cited in Chernow, p. 100.
35 “license to stay on earth” Allen, p. 179.
36 “Pierpont Morgan calls in” Wheeler, p. 203.
37 “The Outcry deals with” Henry James, The Outcry (London, 1911), jacket blurb for first edition.
38 “beautiful duchess” ibid., p. 22.
39 “the most beautiful” ibid., p. 30.
40 “the billionaire with” Adeline R. Tinter, “Henry James: The Outcry and the art drain of 1908–9,” Apollo, Feb. 1981, p. 110.
41 “Bender knows what” James, p. 21.
42 “Kitty wants so many” ibid.
43 “The art world is at” ibid., p. 52.
44 “Precious things are going” ibid.
45 “This time it will” London Evening News, April 9, 1901, p. 2.
46 “She looks splendid” Agnew’s history, p. 86.
47 “The music halls were” ibid., p. 84.
TWENTY-NINE
1 “all in the world” Adam Worth, p. 22.
2 would not take any Pittsburgh Leader, March 3, 1905.
3 “the worst deal Harry” Guerin, p. 298.
4 “The sudden return” Magazine of Art, June 1901, p. 368.
5 “Never previously in the history” The Gainsborough Duchess, p. 5.
6 “one newly brought” ibid., p. 6.
7 “she is not, after all” Pall Mall Gazette, April 9, 1901, p. 1.
8 “will vanish as the” ibid.
9 “An exhibition in London” Times, April 10, 1901, p. 4.
10 “Probably all the speculation” The Gainsborough Duchess, p. 6.
11 “Our hearts were wasted” Daily Express, April 10, 1901, p. 4.
12 “that brother and” Adam Worth (alias Robt. R. Bayley) to William Pinkerton, June 22, 1901, PA.
13 “I am little better” ibid.
14 “Friend H.” William Pinkerton (B.) to Friend H. (Adam Worth), June 30, 1901, PA.
15 “I have had several” ibid.
16 “I think you write” Robert to William Pinkerton, July 3, 1901, PA.
17 “stop this correspondence” William to Robert Pinkerton, July 5, 1901, PA.
18 “I urged upon” William Pinkerton to Harry L. Raymond, Feb. 21, 1902, PA.
19 “tumor” ibid.
20 “had fitted up a nice home” Adam Worth, p. 22.
21 “knew nothing of his past” ibid.
22 “He told me little or nothing” Henry L. Raymond to William Pinkerton, undated, PA.
23 “would consult no” ibid.
24 “Mr Morgan will not” Morland Agnew to William Pinkerton, telegram, Nov. 19, 1902, PA.
25 “The ceiling is too low” Whee
ler, p. 203.
26 “I left his room to go” Henry L. Raymond to William Pinkerton, undated, PA.
27 “independent means” Death certificate (Jan. 8, 1902) in St. Catherine’s House, London.
28 “I beg to state to you” H. L. Raymond to William Pinkerton, Jan. 24, 1902, PA.
29 “Do you think it could” Robert to William Pinkerton, Feb. 6, 1902, PA.
30 “Yours of the 24th informing” William Pinkerton to H. L. Raymond, Feb. 2, 1902, PA.
31 “proved in the autumn” C. McCluer Stevens, p. 44.
32 “My father left little” Henry L. Raymond to William Pinkerton, undated, PA.
33 “My father often used” Henry L. Raymond to William Pinkerton, undated, PA.
34 “a man of great” William Pinkerton to Henry L. Raymond, Feb. 21, 1902, PA.
35 “I was very sorry” William to Robert Pinkerton, Feb. 2, 1902, PA.
36 “I feel as you do” Robert to William Pinkerton, Feb. 10, 1902, PA.
37 “keep the matter of his” Robert to William Pinkerton, Feb. 6, 1902, PA.
38 “we should leave his” ibid.
39 “I have a letter from Adam” William to Robert Pinkerton, Feb. 9, 1902, PA.
40 “I hated to say anything” William to Robert Pinkerton, Feb. 7, 1902, PA.
41 “You cannot get a thing” ibid.
42 “about as correct as a newspaper” William to Robert Pinkerton, Feb. 9, 1902, PA.
43 “the most remarkable crime” New York Sun, Feb. 9, 1902.
44 “one of the most celebrated” Evening Sun, Feb. 7, 1902.
45 “one of the most remarkable” New York World, Feb. 7, 1902.
46 “He was personally” Chicago American, Feb. 7, 1902.
47 “the last of a really” Chicago Tribune, Feb. 7, 1902.
48 “In the death of Adam Worth” Adam Worth, p. 23.
49 “Adam Worth is dead” New York Journal and American, Feb. 7, 1902.
EPILOGUE
1 “the robber baron” Gore Vidal, United States: Essays 1952–1992 (New York, London, 1993), p. 1073.
2 “Great Dissembler” Robert Gandt, Skygods: The Fall of Pan Am (New York, 1995), p. 10.
3 “at the bottom” Henry L. Raymond to William Pinkerton, undated, PA.
4 “a man in this city” William Pinkerton to Henry L. Raymond, Feb. 21, 1902, PA.
5 “We ought to be able” ibid.
6 “Professional crime among” Morn, p. 140.
7 “a prime motivation” Horan, p. 497; World, April 25, 1920.