Friday, January 6, 2017

"Mr. Bond, I Am Afraid Your Safe Has Been Tampered With"

"A Twentieth Century Detective."
By Walter L. Hawley (c. 1860-1909).
First appearance: The Argosy, March 1897.
Short short story (6 pages).
Online at Comic Book Plus (HERE) (select page 194).
"Why Bond & Co. saw fit to employ John Smith on short notice — A bank robbery that was discovered under rather surprising circumstances and which develops astounding features."
Some criminals aren't content just to steal; they like doing a con as well. Poor Mr. Bond, the banker! Not only will his name be mud to the world at large but also patsy.

Resource:
- According to Walter L. Hawley's FictionMags listing, in addition to some nonfiction such as "Development of the American Newspaper" (1899; online HERE), he also penned at least a half dozen short stories, of which "A Twentieth Century Detective" is one.
Nothing as blatant as this.

The bottom line: "My buddies wanted to be firemen, farmers or policemen, something like that. Not me, I just wanted to steal people's money!"
John Dillinger

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