The crime code

Atthe outset I wish to impress on those who read this straightforward and unembellished narrative of my amazing and often exciting adventures, that I seek not to hide my own shortcomings, for they are alas! many; nor do I in the least desire to pose as a vainglorious hero. At least, I am not one who slops about in the oozy slime of the sex problem.
From leading the normal life of an ordinary young man about London, I was, by a strange freak of ill-fortune, and in the space of a single minute, plunged into a veritable vortex of doubt and misery, compelled to lead the life of a hunted criminal, and to resort to all sorts of ruses in order to retain my liberty. And yet, the events which led up to the sudden change in my life are such as might occur to any man, on any night, in any big city in the world.