Bones Of The River Part 20

Send Bones instantly to Lujamalababa... Arrest and bring to head-quarters the witch doctor.'

It is a time when the world's most powerful nations are vying for colonial honour, a time of trading steamers and tribal chiefs. In the mysterious African territories administered by Commissioner Sanders, Bones persistently manages to create his own unique style of innocent and endearing mischief.

[image]Clue of the New Pin Jesse Trasmere is a miser with a deep distrust of the bank. He has made a fortune in China, but keeps it h.o.a.rded in his prison-like house. Although his nephew, Rex Lander, receives a generous allowance from his uncle, it is not enough for his extravagant lifestyle. One day Trasmere breaks with routine and informs his valet, Walters, that he is going out of town for a while to avoid an acquaintance from his past. So how does this explain Trasmere's body later found in a locked vault?

[image]Clue of the Silver Key This thrilling murder mystery features some veritable characters: inventor and heir-at-law d.i.c.k Allenby, and banker and speculator Leo Moran. Add Dornford, Hennessey and the actress Mary Lane, and Was.h.i.+ngton Wirth who gives parties and loves flattery. Hervey Lyne, Binny and the indomitable Surefoot Smith. Of them all only Tickler is innocent. Leaving gala night at the Litigation Club, d.i.c.k and Surefoot are discussing guns...but there before them a cab has been left in the middle of the road. The man inside has been shot.

[image]Clue of the Twisted Candle Kara hates candles. He also believes that there is a great criminal lost in John Lexman, the detective-story writer involved in a plot more fantastic than any of his own ingenious mysteries. It is no secret that Kara had hoped to marry the beautiful Grace, but she is now Lexman's wife. But Lexman owes Va.s.salaro, the Greek moneylender, and Va.s.salaro has threatened to kill him. A tense and powerful tale that moves dramatically between London and the Balkans.

[image]Coat of Arms It is a small world and the possibility of old criminal acquaintances meeting at a Surrey roadhouse is by no means remote. Sketchley, where the Coat of Arms roadhouse stands, is a place of strange happenings. There are thefts of valuable gold plate, a suspicious old man, seen but not caught, a burglar who returns stolen valuables. When the local manor burns down the owner and guests move to the roadhouse, old vendettas intensify. Interests clash. Murder is committed.

[image]Council of Justice There are crimes for which no punishment is adequate, offences that the written law cannot efface. Herein lies the justification for The Council of Justice The Council of Justice a meeting of great and pa.s.sionless intellects. These men are indifferent to world opinion. They relentlessly wage their wits and cunning against powerful underworld organisations, against past masters of villainy and against minds equally astute. To breakers of the unwritten laws they deal death. a meeting of great and pa.s.sionless intellects. These men are indifferent to world opinion. They relentlessly wage their wits and cunning against powerful underworld organisations, against past masters of villainy and against minds equally astute. To breakers of the unwritten laws they deal death.

[image]Crimson Circle When James Beardmore receives a letter demanding 100,000 he refuses to pay even though it is his last warning. It is his son Jack who finds him dead. Can the amazing powers of Derrick Yale, combined with the methodical patience of Inspector Parr, discover the secret of the Crimson Circle? Who is its all-powerful head and who is the stranger who lies in wait? Twice in a lifetime a ruthless criminal faces the executioner.

[image]Daffodil Mystery When Mr Thomas Lyne, poet, poseur and owner of Lyne's Emporium insults a cas.h.i.+er, Odette Rider, she resigns. Having summoned detective Jack Tarling to investigate another employee, Mr Milburgh, Lyne now changes his plans. Tarling and his Chinese companion refuse to become involved. They pay a visit to Odette's flat. In the hall Tarling meets Sam, convicted felon and protege of Lyne. Next morning Tarling discovers a body. The hands are crossed on the breast, adorned with a handful of daffodils.

[image]Dark Eyes of London Inspector Holt is enjoying the Cafe de la Paix and the Boulevard des Italiens. He and his valet Sunny are planning a visit to Monte Carlo when an urgent telegram arrives from the Chief Commissioner of Scotland Yard. Mr Gordon Stuart has been found drowned in suspicious circ.u.mstances. Holt returns on the same boat as Flash Fred Grogan, continental crook and gambler. Attempting to solve the mystery leads Holt into a string of exciting adventures including romance.

[image]Daughters of the Night Jim Bartholomew is a young manager of a branch of the South Devon Farmers' Bank with a love of hunting, horses and a dislike of routine. What does he have in common with Margot, the beautiful Mrs Markham and a handsome American? And what do the Daughters of the Night the three Roman deities who brought punishment to evil-doers have to do with this tale?

[image]Debt Discharged Thomas Maple lives on Crystal Palace Road with his niece Verity. He works for a firm of bank note engravers. However, the dollar bills he shows Wentworth Gold are forgeries perfect except for the missing Treasury sign. When Verity meets her new employer she develops serious misgivings, and arriving back home she can hear a menacing voice. What power do these men hold over her uncle? Who is the mysterious he he? She hesitates, then follows them.

[image]Devil Man To whisper the name of Charles Pearce is to incite a h.o.a.rd of wild imaginings, all that makes the flesh creep. Pearce is physically repulsive, tiny in stature, but a Samson in strength. He is a gifted musician, a terrible braggart and for some reason women find him irresistible. He is also a burglar. And a murderer. There is a baffling mystery that someone urgently needs to solve...

[image]Door with Seven Locks d.i.c.k 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.

[image]Duke in the Suburbs The 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 acc.u.mulated during his five years' imprisonment', has played splendidly into his hands.

[image]Face in the Night The 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. d.i.c.k 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...

[image]Feathered Serpent Reporter 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 The Feathered Serpent.

[image]Flying Squad The creek between the ca.n.a.l 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...

[image]Forger Forged 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.

[image]Four Just Men When 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 punis.h.i.+ng by death those whom conventional justice can not touch.

[image]Four Square Jane Who is Four Square Jane? Although her true ident.i.ty 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.

[image]Fourth Plague On 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...

[image]Frightened Lady Everyone 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.

[image]Good Evans Good Evans continues the life of Evans, Edgar Wallace's c.o.c.kney tipster and 'the wizard of Camden Town'. Follow the loves, predictions and calamities of this likeable hero of the Turf in the seventeen tales of this book. It is not only race-lovers who will love Evans, but lovers of life itself. From the author of continues the life of Evans, Edgar Wallace's c.o.c.kney tipster and 'the wizard of Camden Town'. Follow the loves, predictions and calamities of this likeable hero of the Turf in the seventeen tales of this book. It is not only race-lovers who will love Evans, but lovers of life itself. From the author of More Educated Evans More Educated Evans.

[image]Hand of Power Dr Joshua Laffin wants Betty Carew, whose childhood he tortured with fear, to advertise a desk for sale. For four hours each day she is to sit at it pretending to write, in a shop window laid out like a study. While she acts this role she is told to wait for someone to approach her. Pawter of Pawter Intensive Publicity Services wants Bill Holbrook to find out more. Bill suspects trouble. He claims someone told him that the desk was invented by a butler who was hanged for murdering his wife...

[image]Iron Grip Jack Bryce is an ordinary, well-educated man. He has no experience of criminals or the criminal mind. No longer in the army, he is having problems securing new employment. Visiting a lawyer, an old friend of his father, it looks as if he will be rejected yet again. But his luck changes. His new career as a detective creates a compelling tale of adventure. Eventually, however, he is overpowered caught in the tender grip of love from which he has no desire to escape.

[image]Joker While the millionaire Stratford Harlow is in Princetown, not only does he meet with his lawyer Mr Ellenbury but he gets his first glimpse of the beautiful Aileen Rivers, niece of the actor and convicted felon Arthur Ingle. When Aileen is involved in a car accident on the Thames Embankment, the driver is James Carlton of Scotland Yard. Later that evening Carlton gets a call. It is Aileen. She needs help.

[image]Just Men of Cordova There are crimes for which no punishment is adequate, offences that the written law cannot redress. The three friends, Pioccart, Manfred and Gonsalez, may be enjoying the exotic, Spanish city of Cordova with its heat and Moorish influences, but they are still committed to employing their intellect and cunning to dispense justice. They use their own methods and carry out their own verdicts. They are ruthless and they deal in death.

[image]Keepers of the King's Peace 'I want you to go up the Isango, Bones,' said Sanders, 'there may be some trouble there a woman is working miracles.'

Unexpected things happen in the territories of the Belgian Congo where Commissioner Sanders keeps an uneasy peace, aided by his trusty a.s.sistant Lieutenant Hamilton and hindered, unintentionally, by the trouble-p.r.o.ne Bones. He must deal with 'ju-ju', 'religious-palava', lost vials of virulent disease...and all the while Bosambo, the magnificent king of the Ochori, watches on.

[image]Law of the Four Just Men 'Grace,' he said, 'I am going to apply the methods of the Four to this devil Stedland.'

But the judge finds Jeffrey Storr guilty, not Stedland. As Storr's wife Grace leaves the court a foreign-looking gentleman introduces himself. He and his companion are friends of her husband. Justice has failed and THE FOUR JUST MEN have stepped in. They will use their own laws to protect the innocent and will impose their own verdicts. There can be no appeal.

[image]Lone House Mystery The dead man was rich. In life he lived in a lonely house by a river. In the earth outside it is the imprint of a bare foot. His secretary, with whom he was having an affair, is locked in a room. The key is in the dead man's pocket. Superintendent Minter considers it a most queer and unsatisfactory case. However, he is determined not to be defeated. A thrilling, thoroughly intriguing tale of double murder and love.

[image]Man Who Bought London King Kerry is going to buy London. This morning he is on his way to buy shops in Oxford Street. Elsie Marion is late for work when she falls into conversation with him. Suddenly two shots ring out. They miss, but King Kerry seems to know his attacker. From a high office window a man shakes his fist: someday, the man vows, 'I will find a bullet that goes to its mark and the girl from Denver City will be free!'

[image]Man Who Knew A youth is lying dead in Gray Square, Bloomsbury. Constable Wiseman is at the scene, as is the handsome Frank Merril, nephew of rich John Martin. Also there is May Nuttall, whose father was the best friend Martin ever had. A small, shabby man in an ill-fitting frock coat and large gold rimmed spectacles pulls a newspaper advertis.e.m.e.nt from the deceased's waistcoat pocket.

'At the Yard,' whispers the constable to Frank, 'we call him The Man who Knows.'

[image]Man Who Was n.o.body Bearing a letter from her employer, Marjorie Stedman, confidential secretary and niece of Solomon Stedman, enters the drawing room of Alma Trebizond, actress and wife of Sir James Tynewood. Tynewood is unpleasantly drunk. When a second delivery is required Marjorie travels again to Tynewood Chase. Left alone by Doctor Fordham, she hears a shot. When she opens the door she discovers Sir James lying in a pool of blood. The man holding the revolver is someone Marjorie has seen before...

[image]Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder 'I see wrong in everything,' said Mr Reeder, 'I have the mind of a criminal.'

At first glance J G Reeder is an ordinary, slightly shabby little man with red hair, weak eyes, whiskers, square-toed boots and a chest protector cravat. However, working for the Public Prosecutor he finds plenty to stretch his extraordinary mind. Here are eight thrilling, highly original tales from one of the greatest talents ever applied to detective fiction.

[image]More Educated Evans The further escapades of the incorrigible Evans, Edgar Wallace's c.o.c.kney hero of the Turf feature in these twelve tales. There are bets, bookmakers, horses, tip-offs, winners, journalists and women. There is banter, humour and much fun to be had along the way.

[image]Mr. J.G. Reeder Returns When Larry O'Ryan decides to become a burglar he attends night school to study ballistics, then secures a job at a safe-maker's. After three successful robberies Larry is caught by Mr J G Reeder. An unlikely friends.h.i.+p develops and on Sat.u.r.days they can be seen together at the British Museum or the Tower. One day Larry rescues Miss Lane Leonard, daughter of a millionaire. The disappearance of one and a half million pounds in gold bullion and a series of bank frauds baffles Scotland Yard. But not Mr J G Reeder.

[image]Mr. Justice Maxwell When Cartwright and Maxell visit the theatre in Tangiers, Cartwright boldly liberates the Irish singer Miss O'Grady from her infamous surroundings, so angering the theatre owner's son and the Spaniard Jose Ferreria. Then the news from El Mograb is good so Cartwright leaves to arrange the necessary finance. In the Crown room of the Law Courts, Mr Justice Maxell is asked by the Attorney General if he is doing business with Cartwright. 'No,' he lies.

[image]Red Aces J G Reeder is a shabby little man with red hair and weak eyes. However, his extraordinary mind is rapier sharp. Here are three thrilling episodes torn from his casebook: Red Aces Red Aces about a man who gambles high and lives in fear; about a man who gambles high and lives in fear; Kennedy the Con Man Kennedy the Con Man, reveals the impeccable mask stripped from a fiend, and finally The Case of Jo Attymer The Case of Jo Attymer, a thoroughly intriguing mystery involving murder on London's Thames.

[image]Room 13 Recently released from prison, John Gray visits his old friend Peter Kane. Although it is the day of his daughter's wedding, Kane agrees to an audience with Emanuel Legg, the criminal and cop-killer with whom he has some business. Gray wanders into the garden and a tornado of fury sweeps through him. The debonair Major Floyd, the new husband to whom Kane has entrusted his precious daughter, is a fraudster of the most sinister kind.

[image]Sanders Employing his unique style of innocent and endearing humour, Bones has written to the newspapers The Surrey Star The Surrey Starand The Middles.e.x Plain Dealer The Middles.e.x Plain Dealer inviting the Foreign Secretary to pay a visit to the African territories which they administer. It is against the regulations and his boss Hamilton is furious. While world powers vie for colonial honours, Sanders and his a.s.sistants attempt to administer an uneasy peace in a climate of ju-ju and witch doctors, and all the while Bosambo, chief of the Ochori, watches closely. inviting the Foreign Secretary to pay a visit to the African territories which they administer. It is against the regulations and his boss Hamilton is furious. While world powers vie for colonial honours, Sanders and his a.s.sistants attempt to administer an uneasy peace in a climate of ju-ju and witch doctors, and all the while Bosambo, chief of the Ochori, watches closely.

[image]Sanders of the River Commissioner Sanders is called upon by the British Government 'to keep a watchful eye upon some quarter of a million cannibal folk, who ten years before had regarded white men as we regard the unicorn.'

Written when world powers were vying for colonial honour, Sanders of the River Sanders of the River encapsulates the beliefs and a.s.sumptions that motivated such quests. There is religious-palava, raiding-palava, and all the while, Bosambo, magnificent chief of the Ochori watches on. encapsulates the beliefs and a.s.sumptions that motivated such quests. There is religious-palava, raiding-palava, and all the while, Bosambo, magnificent chief of the Ochori watches on.

[image]Sinister Man Jessie Dame calls Major Amery 'The Sinister Man'. Secretary Ella Marlowe is the ward of Maurice Tarn, who has drunkenly but seriously proposed. Tarn is going abroad and desires the company of someone he can trust. Though sworn to secrecy, the horrified Ella confesses everything to Ralph Hallam. Looking pale and unkempt Maurice arrives at the office to apologise to Major Amery for losing his temper they talk: the Stanford Corporation is mentioned, along with drugs and gangs...

[image]Square Emerald 'Suicide on the left,' says Chief Inspector Coldwell pleasantly, as he and Leslie Maughan stride along the Thames Embankment during a brutally cold night. A gaunt figure is sprawled across the parapet. But Coldwell soon discovers that Peter Dawlish, fresh out of prison for forgery, is not considering suicide but murder. Coldwell suspects Druze as the intended victim. Maughan disagrees. If Druze dies, she says, 'It will be because he does not love children!'

[image]Three Just Men If you like a villain to be a proper villain then Oberzhon is the genuine article. What a villain! What an adventure! There are crimes for which no punishment is adequate, offences that the written law cannot efface. When conventional justice fails The Three Just Men employ their great intellect and cunning. They use their own methods, carry out their own verdicts. There can be no compromise.

[image]Three Oak Mystery While brothers Lexington and Socrates Smith, authority on fingerprints and blood stains, are guests of Peter Mandle and his stepdaughter, they observe a light flas.h.i.+ng from the direction of Mr Jethroe's house. COME THREE OAKS, it spells in Morse. A ghostly figure is seen hurrying across the moonlit lawn. Early next morning the brothers take a stroll, and there, tied to an oak branch, is a body a purple mark where the bullet struck.

[image]Traitor's Gate Hope Joyner, ward of a Mr Hallet whom she has never met, is in love with Sir Richard Hallowell. Diana Montague, who was once engaged to Sir Richard, now keeps very dubious company Sir Richard's brother Graham for one. He has just been released from prison. Since Graham has been away Diana has acquired money, and she is now Press Secretary for the Prince of Kishlastan, who according to Colly Warrington, is totally besotted with her...

[image]When The Gangs Came To London Tough, ruthless gangsters from Chicago descend on London and for two weeks their violent campaign of murder and intimidation holds the city in a crus.h.i.+ng grip of fear. Scotland Yard has never seen such an onslaught. When a lull ensues, Captain Jiggs Allermain of the Chicago Detective Bureau suspects the rival gangs of forming an uneasy alliance. Suddenly a shot rings through the House of Commons unleas.h.i.+ng an outburst of terror even more b.l.o.o.d.y.