Jacques Futrelle

“ FOR a time M. Remi looked, then there came into his beady black eyes a supercilious light, and finally he permitted a sneering smile to curl the corners of his mouth. “It is a strange thing, Monsieur,” he told the little clerk easily, from the depths of his infinite wisdom, “that whenever and wherever an American is arrested or is threatened with arrest he gives his name as John Smith. If there had been any doubt as to this—er—M. Smith’s attempt to hide his true identity, the mere fact that he signed the name John Smith would have tended to dissipate that doubt. ”

“ Meanwhile, Mr. John Smith of Passaic, New Jersey, wrapped in the utter innocence of slumber, dreamed lightly of the voice of an angel—an angel from the United States—which came to him vaguely through a babble. ”

“ Paris is not only always willing, but glad, to lend assistance to the police of any sister city of the earth.
So, when a cable despatch came from a private detective agency in New York asking the Paris police to locate one W. Mandeville Clarke, Paris doffed her hat and went to work. It was not surprising, therefore, that while Mr. John Smith of Passaic was peacefully snoring five flights up in the Maison de Treville, an agent of the police, M. Remi, not without fame in his own calling, should appear in the office down stairs and make certain inquiries of the clerk. ”