Beadle's Dime Library No. 694

This issue (No. 694, Vol. LIV) of a Beadle & Adams weekly contains the opening chapters of "The Clew of the Invisible Hand" by Captain Howard Holmes, a detective serial featuring Gideon Grip, the Secret Shadower. An Indian Summer morning in New York: a boy summons young detective Grip to the Drake mansion, where he discovers wealthy Dorsey Drake dead at his table. The girl Iris, Drake's ward, claims she observed a mysterious hand-print branded on the dead man's face—now vanished. A wine-glass near the body emits the scent of bitter almonds, suggesting poison. All doors and windows were locked from inside. Gideon suspects murder despite appearance of suicide. A woman, Miriam Marx, who has watched Drake's house for months from across the street, visits Gideon's office, claiming she witnessed something significant the previous night. The serial continues with mystery unfolding.