To The Only Critic I Love⁠— My Wife...

Bill Rankin sat motionless before his typewriter, grimly seeking a lead for the interview he was about to write. A black shadow shot past his elbow and materialized with a soft thud on his desk. Bill’...

The next day at one Sir Frederic Bruce stood in the lobby of the St. Francis, a commanding figure in a gray tweed suit. By his side, as immaculate as his guest, stood Barry Kirk, looking out on the bu...

Barry Kirk stepped from his living-room through French windows leading into the tiny garden that graced his bungalow in the sky⁠—“my front yard,” he called it. He moved over to the rail and stood look...

Barry Kirk stood looking about his office; he found it difficult to believe that into this commonplace, familiar room, tragedy had found its way. Yet there was that silent figure on the floor, a few m...

Charlie Chan rose at eight the next morning, and as he scraped the stubble of black beard from his cheeks, he grinned happily at his reflection in the glass. He was thinking of the small, helpless boy...

Barry Kirk tossed Chan’s suitcase into the luggage compartment of his roadster, and the trio crowded again on to its single seat. The car swung about in the pier shed and emerged into the bright sunli...

Miss Morrow stood, her brows contracted in bewilderment, looking down at the unexpected enclosure she had found in the envelope with the London postmark. “Oh, dear,” she sighed. “There’s just one trou...

Thoughtfully Charlie Chan picked up Sir Frederic’s clippings from the desk and taking out a huge wallet, stowed them away inside. Barry Kirk’s eyes were on the door through which Flannery had taken hi...

Thursday morning dawned bright and fair. Stepping briskly from his bed to the window, Chan saw the sunlight sparkling cheerily on the waters of the harbor. It was a clear, cool world he looked upon, a...

Captain Flannery got up and took a turn about the room. He was a simple man and the look on his face suggested that the complexities of his calling were growing irksome. He stopped in front of Eileen ...

Flannery departed, and Miss Morrow picked up her coat. Reluctantly Kirk held it for her. “Must you go?” he protested. “Back to the office⁠—yes,” she said. “I’ve oceans of work. The district attorney k...

When Chan and Kirk were left alone, the little detective sat staring thoughtfully into space. “Now Tuesday becomes the big day for keen anticipation,” he remarked. “What will it reveal? Much, I hope, ...

Major Durand was not the only one to whom Flannery’s news came as a shock and a disappointment. On the faces of the four other people in that room dismay was clearly written. “Gone, and no one saw her...

With a grave face Paradise served the tea, passed sandwiches and cakes, and then silently withdrew. Barry Kirk paused with his cup at his lips, an inquiring look in his eyes. Inspector Duff saw it and...

When Charlie Chan rose on Wednesday morning, the rain was over and the fog was lifting. Bravely struggling through remnants of mist, the sun fell on a sparkling town, washed clean for a new day. Chan ...

Kirk hurried up to the bungalow. He found Charlie Chan seated in a chair by the window, completely engrossed in Colonel John Beetham’s description of The Land Beyond the Khyber. “Well,” said Kirk, “he...

Barry Kirk answered the ring of the telephone the next morning at ten, and was greeted by a voice that, even over the wire, seemed to afford him pleasure. “Good morning,” he said. “I’m glad to hear fr...

Greatly pleased with himself, Captain Flannery sat down behind his desk. His summing up of the case against Beetham seemed, to his way of thinking, without a flaw. He beamed at the assembled company. ...

For a moment no one spoke. Captain Flannery was gradually deflating like a bright red balloon that had received a fatal puncture. Suddenly his eyes blazed with anger. He turned hotly on Charlie Chan. ...

All color had drained from Durand’s face, it was gray as fog as he stood there confronted by the triumphant little Chinese. Flannery reached out and seized the leather case. The Major made no move to ...

Flannery turned fiercely on Eve Durand. “Then you’ve known all along?” he cried. “You knew the Major had been here before⁠—you saw him that night he did for Sir Frederic⁠—” “No, no,” she protested. “I...

Their pursuit so tragically ended, the three men came slowly back into the living-room of the bungalow. “Well,” said Flannery, “that’s the end of him.” “Escaped?” Miss Morrow cried. “From this world,”...