



Produced by Melissa McDaniel, RichardW, and the Online
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 TRACED AND TRACKED

 OR

 _Memoirs of a City Detective_.

  BY JAMES M^cGOVAN,

  AUTHOR OF “BROUGHT TO BAY,” “HUNTED DOWN,” AND
  “STRANGE CLUES.”

  SEVENTH EDITION.

  EDINBURGH:
  JOHN MENZIES & COMPANY

  LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO.
  1886.

 _All rights reserved._



 _WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR_

  BROUGHT TO BAY;
  OR,
 _EXPERIENCES OF A CITY DETECTIVE_.
  THIRTEENTH EDITION.

  HUNTED DOWN;
  OR,
 _RECOLLECTIONS OF A CITY DETECTIVE_.
  ELEVENTH EDITION.

  STRANGE CLUES;
  OR,
 _CHRONICLES OF A CITY DETECTIVE_.
  NINTH EDITION.

The above are uniform in size and price with “TRACED AND TRACKED,”
and the four works form the complete set of M^cGovan’s Detective
Experiences.




 To
 JOHN LENG, ESQ.,
 KINBRAE, NEWPORT, FIFE

 This Book
 IS INSCRIBED, IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF HIS
 LOVING-KINDNESS DURING A CRITICAL
 ILLNESS OF THE AUTHOR.




PREFACE.


The gratifying success of my former experiences—25,000 copies having
already been sold, and the demand steadily continuing—has induced
me to put forth another volume. In doing so, I have again to thank
numerous correspondents, as well as the reviewers of the public
press, for their warm expressions of appreciation and approval.
I have also to notice a graceful compliment from Berlin, in the
translation of my works into German, by H. Ernst Duby; and another
from Geneva, in the translation of a selection of my sketches into
French, by the Countess Agènor de Gasparin.

A severe and unexpected attack of hæmorrhage of the lungs has
prevented me revising about a third of the present volume. I trust,
therefore, that any trifling slips or errors will be excused on that
account.

In conclusion, I would remind readers and reviewers of the words
of Handel, when he was complimented by an Irish nobleman on having
amused the citizens of Dublin with his _Messiah_. “Amuse dem?” he
warmly replied; “I do not vant to amuse dem only; I vant to make dem
petter.”

 JAMES M^cGOVAN.

 EDINBURGH, _October 1884_.




CONTENTS.


 A PEDESTRIAN’S PLOT, • 1

 BILLY’S BITE, • 13

 THE MURDERED TAILOR’S WATCH, • 24

 THE STREET PORTER’S SON, • 44

 A BIT OF TOBACCO PIPE, • 57

 THE BROKEN CAIRNGORM, • 68

 THE ROMANCE OF A REAL CREMONA, • 79

 THE SPIDER AND THE SPIDER-KILLER, • 104

 THE SPOILT PHOTOGRAPH, • 115

 THE STOLEN DOWRY, • 127

 M^cSWEENY AND THE MAGIC JEWELS, • 139

 BENJIE BLUNT’S CLEVER ALIBI, • 150

 JIM HUTSON’S KNIFE, • 161

 THE HERRING SCALES, • 174

 ONE LESS TO EAT, • 185

 THE CAPTAIN’S CHRONOMETER, • 196

 THE TORN TARTAN SHAWL, • 207

 A LIFT ON THE ROAD, • 218

 THE ORGAN-GRINDER’S MONEY-BAG, • 229

 THE BERWICK BURR, • 240

 THE WRONG UMBRELLA, • 252

 A WHITE SAVAGE, • 263

 THE BROKEN MISSIONARY, • 274

 A MURDERER’S MISTAKE, • 285

 A HOUSE-BREAKER’S WIFE, • 297

 M^cSWEENY AND THE CHIMNEY-SWEEP, • 308

 THE FAMILY BIBLE, • 320

 CONSCIENCE MONEY, • 332

 A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING, • 343




TRACED AND TRACKED.




A PEDESTRIAN’S PLOT.


I have alluded to the