The Suicide

By Nicholas Carter and John Betancourt

When successful businessman Cyrus Darling abruptly sells his business, then is found dead apparently of suicide, Mrs. Darling summons Nick Carter to investigate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wildside Press
• Release date: Jul 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667601267

Nicholas Carter

General Sir Nicholas Carter KCB, CBE, DSO, ADC Gen commissioned into The Royal Green Jackets in 1978. At Regimental Duty he has served in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Germany, Bosnia, and Kosovo and commanded 2nd Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets, from 1998 to 2000. He attended Army Staff College, the Higher Command and Staff Course and the Royal College of Defence Studies. He was Military Assistant to the Assistant Chief of the General Staff, Colonel Army Personnel Strategy, spent a year at HQ Land Command writing the Collective Training Study, and was Director of Army Resources and Plans. He also served as Director of Plans within the US-led Combined Joint Task Force 180 in Afghanistan and spent three months in the Cross Government Iraq Planning Unit prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. General Carter commanded 20th Armoured Brigade in Iraq in 2004 and 6th Division in Afghanistan in 2009/10. He was then the Director General Land Warfare before becoming the Army 2020 Team Leader. He served as DCOM ISAF from October 2012 to August 2013, became Commander Land Forces in November 2013, and was appointed Chief of the General Staff in September 2014.

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Table of Contents

THE SUICIDE

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

THE SUICIDE

or, Nick Carter and the Lost Head

NICHOLAS CARTER

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Copyright © 2022 by Wildside Press LLC.

Originally published in Nick Carter Stories No. 122, January 9, 1915.

Published by Wildside Press LLC.

wildsidepress.com | bcmystery.com

INTRODUCTION

Nick Carter is a fictional character who began as a dime-novel private detective in 1886 and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century. He first appeared in the story paper New York Weekly (Vol. 41 No. 46, September 18, 1886) in a 13-week serial, The Old Detective’s Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square.

The character was conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell. The character proved popular enough to headline its own magazine, Nick Carter Weekly. The serialized stories in Nick Carter Weekly were also reprinted as stand-alone titles under the New Magnet Library imprint.

By 1915, Nick Carter Weekly had ceased publication and Street & Smith had replaced it with Detective Story Magazine, which focused on a more varied cast of characters. There was a brief attempt at reviving Carter in 1924–27 in Detective Story Magazine, but it was not successful.

In the 1930s, due to the success of The Shadow and Doc Savage, Street & Smith revived Nick Carter in a pulp magazine (called Nick Carter Detective Magazine) that ran from 1933 to 1936. Since the Doc Savage character had basically been given Nick’s background, Nick Carter was now recast as a hard-boiled detective. Novels featuring Carter continued to appear through the 1950s, by which time there was also a popular radio show, Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System network from 1943 to 1955.

The Suicide; or, Nick Carter and the Lost Head (originally published in 1915) has been lightly edited to modernize language and punctuation.

Enjoy!

—John Betancourt

Cabin John, Maryland

CHAPTER 1

HOW THE END CAME

Slow down, Danny, and look out for that wire, said Nick Carter to his chauffeur. It may be a live one.

I’m onto it, chief.

Onto it, eh? Don’t you run onto it while I’m in the car, not if it’s a live one. You may fancy absorbing the output of an electric-lighting plant, but not for mine, Danny, not for mine! I know what it would do to me. I’ve seen men electrocuted.

Danny Maloney laughed, for it was obvious that the famous detective was jesting.

Onto it with my lamps, chief, is what I meant, he replied.

Say what you mean, then, said Nick with a smile. Precision is one of the valuable assets of a detective. Luckily, however, you are addressing one who can read between the lines—barring those of the ambiguous letter that brought us out here.

Can’t you fathom it? It must be mighty blind, chief, if it fools you.

On the contrary, Danny, it is perfectly plain—what there is of it, said Nick dryly. A woman, one Mrs. Myra Darling, states that she is in great trouble, that a very devoted friend of mine has advised her to appeal to me, and will I favor her with a call at my earliest convenience.

That all? questioned Danny tersely.

The whole business, said Nick. Of course, the appeal coming from a woman, I cannot turn it down. Noblesse oblige.

You don’t know her?

Not from a side of leather. I am acquainted with no Darling woman—suppress that smile, Danny. I know what you are thinking. But all women are not darlings—far from it.

This one might be, said Danny, his smile spreading to a grin.

That’s neither here nor there, said Nick, with a laugh. Not being in the market, Danny, all women look alike to me. Now, the said Mrs. Darling’s trouble may be—ah, but we are near an answer to the momentous question. Yonder is the place, unless I am much mistaken. Stop at the driveway gate. I’ll walk into the grounds. Keep your eye peeled, by the way, while I’m engaged with her ladyship.

The place referred to was out beyond Washington Heights and overlooking the Hudson. It was an attractive estate, without being at all pretentious, as were others in the immediate locality.

The grounds flanked a broad street in which electric lighting was being introduced, and from which the house stood back some thirty yards, with a well-kept lawn and a few shade trees. In the rear were a stable and garage, beyond which the land sloped down sharply toward the river.

Nick did not wait for an answer from his chauffeur. He sprang from the car while speaking, then walked briskly up the driveway and approached the house, quite a large wooden dwelling of the colonial type. Nick mounted the broad front veranda and rang the bell.

It was answered almost immediately by a tall, graceful woman, clad in black, and about thirty years of age. She was of medium complexion, with brown hair and eyes and a finely poised head. Her features were regular, but her face was a strong one, rather than handsome, evincing will power, intellectuality, and a lofty character. She bowed and smiled a bit gravely, saying immediately:

You are Mr. Carter, I think.

Yes, said Nick politely.

"I am Mrs. Darling. Walk in, please, and come into the library. I am very glad you could come so soon. It is very good