To Punkie...

“Gentleman Joe!” “Why, if it isn’t old Jimmy McGrath.” Castle’s Select Tour, represented by seven depressed-looking females and three perspiring males, looked on with considerable interest. Evidently ...

“So that’s that,” said Anthony, finishing off his glass and replacing it on the table. “What boat were you going on?” “Granarth Castle.” “Passage booked in your name, I suppose, so I’d better travel a...

“Quite so, my dear fellow, quite so,” said Lord Caterham. He had used the same words three times already, each time in the hope that they would end the interview and permit him to escape. He disliked ...

George Lomax returned straightway to Whitehall. As he entered the sumptuous apartment in which he transacted affairs of State, there was a scuffling sound. Mr. Bill Eversleigh was assiduously filing l...

There is often a flaw in the best-laid plans. George Lomax had made one mistake⁠—there was a weak spot in his preparations. The weak spot was Bill. Bill Eversleigh was an extremely nice lad. He was a ...

It was exactly five minutes to four when Virginia Revel, rendered punctual by a healthy curiosity, returned to the house in Pont Street. She opened the door with her latchkey, and stepped into the hal...

The letters were gone! Having once made up his mind to the fact of their disappearance, there was nothing to do but accept it. Anthony realized very well that he could not pursue Giuseppe through the ...

On that same Thursday afternoon Virginia Revel had been playing tennis at Ranelagh. All the way back to Pont Street, as she lay back in the long, luxurious limousine, a little smile played upon her li...

Anthony followed Virginia out of the room, smiling a little to himself. Events had taken quite an unexpected turn. But as he bent over the figure in the chair he grew grave again. “He’s still warm,” h...

Inspector Badgworthy in his office. Time, 8:30 a.m. A tall portly man, Inspector Badgworthy, with a heavy regulation tread. Inclined to breathe hard in moments of professional strain. In attendance Co...

So apprehensive was Lord Caterham of being consulted by George that he spent the whole morning making a tour of his estate. Only the pangs of hunger drew him homeward. He also reflected that by now th...

“Mr. Anthony Cade,” announced Tredwell. “Enter suspicious stranger from village inn,” said Anthony. He made his way toward Lord Caterham with a kind of instinct rare in strangers. At the same time he ...

Superintendent Battle replaced the sheet with the slightly crestfallen air of a man whose best point has fallen flat. Anthony stood with his hands in his pockets lost in thought. “So that’s what old L...

Except for that involuntary twitch of the eyelids, Superintendent Battle’s impassivity was unimpaired. If he had been surprised at Virginia’s recognition of Anthony, he did not show it. He and Lord Ca...

Virginia and Anthony walked side by side down the path which led to the lake. For some minutes after leaving the house they were silent. It was Virginia who broke the silence at last with a little lau...

Anthony regained the terrace with the feeling uppermost in his mind that the only safe place for private conversations was the middle of the lake. The resonant boom of a gong sounded from the house, a...

The inquest took place on the following morning. It was extraordinarily unlike the inquests as pictured in sensational fiction. It satisfied even George Lomax in its rigid suppression of all interesti...

The first person that Anthony saw as he alighted from his train on the following afternoon was Superintendent Battle. His face broke into a smile. “I’ve returned according to contract,” he remarked. “...

They all stared at the French detective, who smiled back at them. “But yes,” he said, “it is true.” There was a pause for a general readjusting of ideas. Then Virginia turned to Battle. “Do you know w...

Anthony said nothing. He continued to stare out of the window. Superintendent Battle looked for some time at his motionless back. “Well, good night, sir,” he said at last, and moved to the door. Antho...

At ten o’clock that morning, Lord Caterham and his daughter were breakfasting. Bundle was looking very thoughtful. “Father,” she said at last. Lord Caterham, absorbed in The Times, did not reply. “Fat...

Superintendent Battle was standing in the library at Wyvern Abbey. George Lomax, seated before a desk overflowing with papers, was frowning portentously. Superintendent Battle had opened proceedings b...

At 2:30 a little party met together in the Council Chamber: Bundle, Virginia, Superintendent Battle, M. Lemoine and Anthony Cade. “No good waiting until we can get hold of Mr. Lomax,” said Battle. “Th...

“You don’t mind, I suppose,” said Bundle after a minute or two, “if I drive rather fast? I started later than I meant to do.” It had seemed to Anthony that they were proceeding at a terrific speed alr...

Lord Caterham, Virginia and Bundle were sitting in the library after dinner. It was Tuesday evening. Some thirty hours had elapsed since Anthony’s rather dramatic departure. For at least the seventh t...

At ten o’clock on the morning of Wednesday, the 13th of October, Anthony Cade walked into Harridge’s Hotel and asked for Baron Lolopretjzyl who was occupying a suite there. After suitable and imposing...

The clock in the Council Chamber struck nine. “Well,” said Lord Caterham, with a deep sigh. “Here they all are, just like little Bo Peep’s flock, back again and wagging their tails behind them.” He lo...

“I suspected her from the first,” explained Anthony. “There was a light in her room on the night of the murder. Afterwards, I wavered. I made inquiries about her in Brittany, and came back satisfied t...

“You owe us an explanation, I think, Mr. Cade,” said Herman Isaacstein, somewhat later in the evening. “There’s nothing much to explain,” said Anthony modestly. “I went to Dover and Fish followed me u...

“If you will go on, gentlemen, I will follow you in a minute,” said Anthony. He waited whilst the others filed out, and then turned to where Superintendent Battle was standing apparently absorbed in e...

Scene⁠—Chimneys, 11 a.m. Thursday morning. Johnson, the police constable, with his coat off, digging. Something in the nature of a funeral feeling seems to be in the air. The friends and relations sta...