A. Frank. Pinkerton

In this High Victorian detective novel, Dyke Darrel investigates the robbery of the Central Railroad’s midnight express, during which Dyke’s friend Arnold Nicholson, a messenger, was murdered. He is helped by his sister Nell, with whom he was supposed to go on holiday. Dyke Darrell turns "the Gotham of the North" - as he calls Chicago - upside down in search of the culprit.

"'It is no use!' she cried, at last, pushing back the mass of thick black hair falling over her white brow; 'I shall never be able to get India by heart, unless I can see the places. I wish papa would let us go reconnoitering amongst the ruined temples and other mysterious buildings; it is so annoying staying here day after day, never seeing anything outside the palace.