The Barrel MysteryFlynn, William J. (William James)
General
The Barrel Mystery
Flynn, William J. (William James)
Detective and mystery stories; Fiction
"The voice of the 'Black-Hand' Society had spoken. I was the unwilling
tool. To refuse meant death. So I resolved to play my part as well as
I could and merely answered that I would do what they asked but not to
expect perfect work as I was not a practical plate printer, and had
never seen counterfeit money before nor printed it.
"Caterina now called us downstairs to eat. At table Cina told Caterina
to abandon the idea of returning to New York. He told her that she was
to remain and cook for the people that would come, that she would be
paid for her work. Caterina made no answer to this.
"Afterwards I went upstairs with Cina and Cecala and began to set up
the press in the large room near a window that faced the road, Cecala
remarking that there was need of light.
"Then, after a sinister pause, Cecala began to tackle me again with a
speech:
"'Don Antonio, I also have American two-dollar plates, but they need
retouching. Some of the lines of the black are not precise. We will
print twenty thousand dollars of the Canadian money in five-dollar
notes, and then fifty thousand of these two-dollar United States
notes.' Saying this Cecala showed me the plates, which he took from
his coat pocket. He made me examine them and I observed that they were
of check letter A, plate number 1111. He wrapped them up in a cloth
and put them in his coat pocket, saying that he would return them when
he brought the inks. The plates for the two-dollar bills were in three
pieces; that is, the green side, the face or black side, and the seal
and counter of dark blue.
"That night Cina and Cecala slept in the house. In the morning they
went off at a very early hour leaving me alone and promising to return
in a few days. On the morning of December 20th, 1908, Cecala and
Giglio returned in company with another man, a Sicilian, and dressed
like one. The stranger took from a bag the wood blocks that were
needed for the plates which Cecala had had retouched. The stranger was
presented to me as Uncle Vincent. Cecala then told Caterina to prepare
a meal as Uncle had traveled all night and was cold and hungry.
"We went upstairs to mount the plates on the blocks. Cecala put them
in the chase, and, like an experienced man, made the press ready for
the green side of the counterfeit money. Cecala also prepared the
green ink and then made me print a proof to see whether the work was
correct. We worked that day in making proofs because we could not get
the right shade of green. Finally, we mixed in a little yellow and hit
the right shade of green for the Canadian note. It was necessary,
however, to let the ink dry in order to see whether the shade was
exactly right. That day the whole conversation was of getting rich.
Millions were to come to each of us. They went so far as to figure out
just what would be the share of each at the end of the month, selling
the stuff at 35 cents on the dollar. All were as happy as lords. All
except Caterina and I.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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