Red Aces (31 page)
 Door with Seven LocksDick Martin is leaving Scotland Yard. His final job, investigating a stolen book, takes him via a conversation with the librarian Sybil Lansdown to Gallows Cottage and a meeting with Doctor Stalletti. Tommy Crawler, Bertram Cody’s chauffeur is also there. Arriving home, Martin finds Lew Pheeney being followed by a man for whom he recently worked. ‘Doing what?’ demands Martin. Lew finally confesses. ‘I was trying to open a dead man’s tomb!’ The telephone rings. It is Mr Havelock. |
 Duke in the SuburbsThe Duke de Montvillier and George Hankey, who discovered silver in Los Madges, have moved into Kymott Crescent. Alicia Terrill, widow and relation of Sir Harry Tanner, finds the Duke a distinctly unpleasant neighbour. Sir Harry’s son is sent to intervene. Unannounced, Sir Harry arrives with a stranger. ‘The coming of Big Bill Slewer, ripe for murder and with the hatred he had accumulated during his five years’ imprisonment’, has played splendidly into his hands. |
 Face in the NightThe green face hangs in the Room of Horror and around it grows a living, baffling legend of mystery and murder. At 2.00 a.m. the Embankment fog is thick and black. Men are gathered round a body. The dead man was clubbed and then thrown into the Thames. Dick Shannon races back to Scotland Yard, which is humming with the latest news: the Queen of Finland’s car has been held up in The Mall and her diamond chain has vanished into the fog… |
 Feathered SerpentReporter Peter Derwin suspects the card mysteriously left in the handbag of actress Ella Creed is a publicity stunt. But Joe Farmer, the boxing promoter, has received one too. Then, after leaving the house of millionaire philanthropist and African explorer Gregory Beale, Daphne Olroyd is followed: she is at her employers’ offices when Leicester Crewe opens the front door. A dead man falls into the hall. In his hand is the card of The Feathered Serpent . |
 Flying SquadThe creek between the canal and the river flows under Lady’s Stairs, a crazy wooden house inhabited by Li Yoseph – known to the police as a smuggler. The neighbourhood suspects he is rich, and knows he is mad. Mark McGill and the nervous Tiser arrive on the scene with Ann Perryman, sister of Ronnie. According to Mark (and confirmed by Li Yoseph), Bradly of Scotland Yard is responsible for Ronnie’s death. Then Li Yoseph disappears… |
 ForgerForged notes have started to appear everywhere. Mr Cheyne Wells of Harley Street has been given one. So has Porter. Peter Clifton is rich, but no one is quite certain how he acquired his money – not even his new wife, the beautiful Jane Leith. One night someone puts a ladder to Jane’s window and enters her room. It is not her jewels they are after. Inspector Rouper and Superintendent Bourke are both involved in trying to solve this thrilling mystery. |
 Four Just MenWhen the Foreign Secretary Sir Philip Ramon receives a threatening, greenish-grey letter signed FOUR JUST MEN, he remains determined to see his Aliens Extradition Bill made law. A device in the members’ smokeroom and a sudden magnesium flash that could easily have been nitro-glycerine leave Scotland Yard baffled. Even Fleet Street cannot identify the illusive Manfred, Gonsalez, Pioccart and Thery – FOUR JUST MEN dedicated to punishing by death those whom conventional justice can not touch. |
 Four Square JaneWho is Four Square Jane? Although her true identity remains hidden until the end of the story, one thing is for sure: she is one of the most daring and successful crooks from the pen of Edgar Wallace. Her resourcefulness knows no bounds as she employs female cunning to get away with a series of risky crimes performed with neatness and cleverness, which cannot but evoke admiration. |
 Fourth PlagueOn the Terzo de Citta stands the Palazzo Festini in gloomy, dilapidated magnificence. Here in penurian grandeur dwell the Festinis, a family not afraid to resurrect feuds first begun in the Middle Ages. This is a tale of the Red-Hand, a criminal organisation that makes Count Festini, its secret head, the most dangerous man in Europe. But for his hated eldest son, the Red-Hand’s plans for the downfall of the country may succeed… |
 Frightened LadyEveryone tried to conceal the truth but the Frightened Lady is unable to hide her fear. Chief Inspector Tanner quickly realises that many things about the household of Lord and Lady Lebanon are not easily explained. Why are two American ‘toughs’ employed as footmen? Why is Lady Lebanon so unwilling to answer any questions? What he does know is that the only obviously innocent person is utterly consumed with terror. Here is Inspector Tanner’s first real clue. |
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