Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 790

Plunger Pete, the Race-Track Detective; or, Bouncing the Bowery Wolves

by Wm. H. Manning

This detective serial opens with Luke Harkness, a desperate man, attempting to rob a pedestrian in a dark New York alley at night. He strangles his victim but is interrupted and overpowered by two men—Plunger Pete and his associate Silky. Rather than arrest Harkness, Pete gives him money and releases him after a passing patrolman vouches for Pete's character. Harkness, unrecognized in the darkness, escapes exultantly. He reveals he spent three years enslaved by Algerian Arabs and seeks a woman named Catholine and an inheritance called the Lorrester money. Three days later, Harkness checks into a hotel east of the Hudson River and writes to Catholine, explaining his three-year absence and announcing his return. The narrative establishes multiple plot threads involving identity concealment, detection work, and romantic/financial motivations.