Detective Craig's Coup

Summary

A city of smoke, mirrors, and bad paper coughs under the sodium haze of the Roaring Twenties, where Detective Craig stalks the click of counterfeit presses like a bloodhound sniffing copper in the air. His prey, James Dalton, a phantom of patent-leather charm, never soils his manicured paws inside the squalid print-shop; instead he wafts through speakeasies and subway shadows, slipping queer twenties into the veins of the metropolis. Enter Bob Brierly, prairie dreamer turned Times-Square casualty, who trades his last honest sawbuck for a shot of rye and a fistful of forged currency, unwitting courier for Dalton’s grand design. The bartender’s loupe spawns sirens; Bob’s fingerprints land on the wrong steel rail while Dalton evaporates into the night. A swift trial, a barred window, and a lonely wife-to-be later, Bob emerges embittered, clutching a ticket to redemption handed by Mae Edwards, the teller whose heart still rings true. Yet Dalton resurfaces inside marbled corridors of First National, fingering Bob’s record to the president, vaporizing the job and any hope of legitimacy. Blackmail becomes a leash; Bob, collared, is marched toward a vault he never wished to rob. Above, Detective Craig orchestrates a clockwork net, timing sirens to the tremor of dynamite, trading bullets with thugs until Dalton spider-walks across a live electric cable between two sheer cliffs of concrete, skyline crackling like Tesla’s wrath. A motor-boat finale along the Hudson slams the curtain: handcuffs click, headlines scream, and Bob returns to Mae, their embrace a fragile, hard-won banknote finally honored.

Synopsis

Government sleuths, headed by Detective Craig, have succeeded in running down a gang of Metropolitan counterfeiters. Although their information as regards the location of the gang's hangout and its plans is complete, they are unable to produce evidence against the man circulating bad money. Suspicion rests, however, on James Dalton, a clever crook, who rarely visits the counterfeiters' room. Dalton gets rid of his bad money through unsuspected "fences." He has just succeeded in using Bob Brierly, a young prodigal from the west, who dropped his money on the great white way for this purpose. When the bartender who took the bad money discovers it he calls in the police. Dalton, as usual, escapes while Bob, innocent of the part he has played, is caught and convicted. Released from jail he meets Mae Edwards whom he had formerly befriended. She recommends him to her employer, a banker, and Brierly secures a responsible position. Thinking he has eluded the detectives, Dalton comes to the bank to look the ground over preparatory to a robbery which he is planning. He runs into Brierly and tries to make him an accomplice. Bob, who has married Mae Edwards and wishes to lead an honest life, relaxes. Dalton advises the banker that Bob is an ex-convict and Bob loses his position. Dalton's persistent efforts make it impossible for Bob to get work and he is forced to join the crook. Craig has been shadowing Dalton and knows that Bob is taking part in the proposed robbery against his will. Having made his plans beforehand Craig frustrates the robbery. Dalton alone gets away by going hand over hand across an electric cable between two skyscrapers. He is later caught in an exciting motor-boat chase. Craig then vindicates Bob and the banker gives him back his old position Bob goes home and tells Mae, and their cup of happiness is filled to overflowing.