Ashton-Kirk
Criminologist
BY
John T. McIntyre
Author of "Ashton-Kirk Investigator,"
"Ashton-Kirk Secret Agent," "Ashton-Kirk
Special Detective," etc.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
RALPH L. BOYER
THE PENN PUBLISHING
COMPANY PHILADELPHIA
1918
COPYRIGHT
1918 BY
THE PENN
PUBLISHING
COMPANY
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.