The man had served his time, turned over a new leaf, and was leading an honest, decent life.

Two months later the superintendent caused the arrest of four yeggmen, all of whom were convicted and are now serving fifteen years each for the crime.
Thus, the reader will observe that there are just a few more real detectives still left in the business-if you can find them.
Incidentally, they, one and all, take off their hats to Scotland Yard.
They will tell you that the Englishman may be slow (fancy an American inspector of police wearing gray suede gloves and brewing himself a dish of tea in his office at four o'clock), but that once he goes after a crook he is bound to get him--it is merely a question of time.

I may add that in the opinion of the heads of the big agencies the percentage of ability in the New York Detective Bureau is high--one of them going so far as to claim that fifty per cent of the men have real detective ability--that is to say "brains." That is rather a higher average than one finds among clergymen and lawyers, yet it may be so..