PREFACE.

 This book was not published for the purpose of displaying any literary ability I may possess, as I have never aspired¹ to win fame by the wielding² of a pen. Within its pages, however, I have attempted, in my own way and in my own manner, to make clear to the reader the inside or hitherto unpublished facts about some of the big cases I have handled during the fifty years I have made the prevention of crime and the tracking and punishment of criminals my profession. How well I have succeeded, I will leave it to the reader to judge.

 

I am today, I believe, the oldest detective, in point of continuous service, in this or any other country. During my long career I have handled many important cases, of which the reading public knows nothing about, for the reason that the men, or corporations, by whom I was employed, did not hire me for the purpose of furnishing newspapers with the material with which to amuse or entertain their readers. Within these pages I tell how the work was done, and how the clues were found and put together. On the other hand, many cases referred to in this book have received much newspaper publicity³, but in these articles the writers were not permitted to tell all the inside facts—how the work was really accomplished⁴. These facts are made public for the first time.

 

In a few instances I have changed, or veiled, the names of the culprits about whom the articles were written. For doing this I do not propose to apologize, however. These men are alive today and are leading upright lives. They[Pg 4] have paid the penalty demanded by the law and society, and I cannot see where it would do any good to again publish their early digressions to the world. I have no disposition⁵ to willfully malign⁶ any one, and names are only used in cases in which the facts are supported by documents in the archives of the courts of this country, Canada and Mexico, the scenes of my greatest activity.

 

In selecting material for this book I have only used cases which were out of the ordinary, or in the unraveling of which some original or unique detective work was done. No attempt has been made to enlarge on the facts at hand. The book is just a simple narration⁷ of real detective work done on real cases handled by me—no attempt having been made to color them as an experienced writer would do, or is done to the work or the deductions⁸ of the phantom⁹ detectives by the writers of fiction.

 

Hoping that the book will serve the purpose for which it is issued I am,

 

Yours truly, 

THOS. FURLONG.

1 aspired   

v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She aspired to a scientific career. 她有志于科学事业。
• Britain,France,the United States and Japan all aspired to hegemony after the end of World War I. 第一次世界大战后，英、法、美、日都想争夺霸权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

3 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

6 malign   

adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑

参考例句：

• It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
• She likes to malign innocent persons.她爱诋毁那些清白的人。

7 narration   

n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体

参考例句：

• The richness of his novel comes from his narration of it.他小说的丰富多采得益于他的叙述。
• Narration should become a basic approach to preschool education.叙事应是幼儿教育的基本途径。

8 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

9 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。