Death Comes to Lady's Steps [antikvár]

CHAPTER IThere was once a criminal who had so high an opinion of his own prowess and capabilities that he wrote letters to the papers about it. If his literary labours had ceased there, no great harm would have been done, for all sorts of people write to the newspapers about all sorts of subjects. Unfortunately, he carried the matter one stage further, for he also wrote to Scotland Yard and the purpose of his doing so was to denigrate the qualities and capacity of Chief Inspector Sheen with special reference to his activities in the Tranter Case.The Tranter Steal was the biggest thing of its time. It broke Superintendent Waller and with him the versatile Inspector Tyle. When Chief Inspector Sheen took over, the trail was cold and the case was old, although the newspapers still gave it space. This in itself was not surprising, for half a million in gold is a great deal of money and Tranter's Bank, who had lost it, admitted as much with candour. In making the admission they were not handicapped by the normal considerations of a difficult world, for old Saul Tranter, Chairman of Tranter's Bank, was also chairman and proprietor of the Western Reader, and any man who controls a newspaper with a circulation of a million is a powerful man indeed.The Reader had made an issue of the case, and it had been to the Reader that Lew Deever had written, secure in the knowledge that his letter would be printed. He was correct too. Lacy, the astute and indefatigable editor, had published it on the front page, accompanied by a short and pungent paragraph of his own devising."We are publishing herewith [wrote Mr. Lacyl a letter which we received this morning from Lew Deever, who, by his own admission, was responsible for the Tranter Bank5