Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1902

Notes: Sexton Blake visits Wallace Lorimer at the village and they spend the afternoon hunting. Afterwards, Lorrimer, who is exhausted, returns to the cottage where he is staying and falls into a deep sleep. Blake, meanwhile, has his supper at the inn then waits for his assistant to join him. A little later, William Harrison creeps into the cottage and 'borrows' Lorrimer's hat and cape. He goes out onto the moor, knowing that John Aylin will pass that way. When the old miser appears, Harrison shoots him in the chest. A local farmer, named Sutton, witnesses the attack but mistakes the fleeing assailant for Lorrimer. Professor Murgatroyd also sees the fugitive and recognises him as Harrison. However, he falls in with the masquerade and pretends to try to catch 'Lorrimer'. He fails and Harrison gets away, returning to the cottage and replacing the sleeping man's clothes. When Lorrimer finally awakes, he rushes to the inn, half an hour late for his appointment with Sexton Blake.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: When he arrives at the inn, Wallace Lorimer is arrested for murder by Sparks, the local police constable. Meanwhile, John Aylin, on his death bed, signs a statement that Lorrimer was his attacker. He makes his daughter swear to never marry the man who murdered him. He also tries to extract a promise that she will marry Squire Murgatroyd. She refuses this but, after her father breathes his last, Murgatroyd, who is present, acts as though she had made the guarantee. Sexton Blake, who has slipped away during all the drama, orders his office boy to close down his Norfolk Street consultancy for a couple of weeks. He then returns to the village disguised as Rev. Edwin Clatterthorpe. He reveals his true identity to Mary Aylin and tells her of his intention to find the real murderer.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: In the guise of Rev. Clatterthorpe, Blake gains entry to the cell in the police station where his secretary Wallace Lorimer is being held on a murder charge. He questions him carefully then, afterwards, cycles to the village and takes up Lorrimer's old rooms. After a few days living in — and investigating — that abode, he moves to the cottage of Mrs. Harrison, the mother of Murgatroyd's gardener, William. This unnerves the murderer and he informs the Squire that he believes the clergyman suspects him. Murgatroyd invites Clatterthorpe to his manor house and instructs Harrison to quietly lock him and his guest in the library. Once this is done, he levels a pistol and demands that Sexton Blake — for he's seen through the disguise — swears an oath to drop the investigation and leave the village for good. The alternative is death.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake and Murgatroyd engage in a fierce fight. When the pistol is fired during the struggle, the noise attracts William Harrison. Blake holds him at gunpoint and forces him to help bind and gag the professor. Harrison, who thinks he is dealing with Rev. Clatterthorpe, is then made to drive the disguised detective towards the nearest town. Learning that the clergyman knows his secret — that he is the man who murdered John Aylin — he attempts to break free but is knocked unconscious by Blake. The detective secures his prisoner in a remote cottage with a man named Bowles as guard. The next task ahead of him is to find solid evidence of Harrison's crime, to prove Wallace Lorrimer innocent.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: I don't currently own this issue. The following summary is gleaned from the introductory paragraph in issue 432 and may be inaccurate in some particulars. Blake attempts to wring a confession from Harrison but the task is made impossible when his prisoner succumbs to a paralysis of body and mind. With just two days to go until the trial of Wallace Lorrimer, the detective appears to have hit an impasse. While out walking, he is set upon by two men who knock him unconscious and lock him in a barn.

Unrated

Notes: I don't currently own this issue. The following summary is gleaned from the introductory paragraph in issue 432 and may be inaccurate in some particulars. Blake escapes from the barn and employs the services of Professor Gray, a famous electrician, to treat Harrison. The shocks jolt the man out of his paralysis and he is rushed by the detective to the trial of Wallace Lorrimer. There, at a crucial moment, Harrison enters the court to give evidence and confesses that he, not Lorrimer, is the guilty man.

Unrated

Notes: At the trial, William Harrison is able to prove that his confession is true. Wallace Lorimer is found "not guilty" and the judge calls for Harrison's arrest. But before the police lay hands on the criminal he suffers a fit and collapses dead. Lorrimer is freed but his troubles aren't over; that evening, he learns from a local newspaper that his sweetheart, Mary Aylin, has mysteriously vanished. The two detectives suspect that Murgatroyd is responsible and that he will soon leave the village. Blake wires his office boy, Raffles, to re-open his London consultancy and Lorrimer vows to re-visit the Ology Club ... London, both men believe, will be the best place to keep track of their enemy. Returning to the capital, Blake summons his assistant We-wee, who hasn't been involved in any of the detective's adventures for the past six months (this is noted by Blake). He sends the boy to Battersby-Denton to search for Miss Aylin. Some days later the Ology Club holds a meeting presided over, as ever, by the masked Dr. X. Disguised as Professor Elias Chuntle, Wallace Lorrimer attends but is exposed by Septimus Murgatroyd.

Trivia: Blake's office boy, Raffles, is 15-years old. This instalment features a surprise appearance by We-wee; one of the rare occasions in these early days of the Blake saga where a sense of continuity is attempted.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: I don't currently own this issue. The following summary is gleaned from the introductory paragraph in issue 434 and may be inaccurate in some particulars. Wallace Lorimer witnesses the vicious enmity between Professor Murgatroyd and Dr. X before managing to escape the wrath of the Ology Club. He tracks its mysterious president through a disused sewer to his home, which bears a plaque reading 'Dr. MacPherson, Hypnotic Physician'. In the morning he and Blake return to their office in Norfolk Street and are surprised to find the missing Mary Aylin waiting for them.

Unrated

Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Mary Aylin tells her story to Sexton Blake and Wallace Lorimer: She had been cycling along a country lane when she was grabbed by the same two men who had previously attacked Blake. They had taken her to a farm where she was held prisoner and guarded by a woman named Mrs. Mason. However, with some cunning trickery she was able to evade her captor and flee. Now certain that Professor Murgatroyd was behind the kidnapping, Mary has come to join Blake and Lorrimer in defeating him. Blake welcomes her into the team — 'The League of Three' — and insists that she should be the house guest of his wife. They then begin planning their campaign against the Professor — and Mary has an idea ...

Trivia: Blake has an office cat. Mrs. Sexton Blake receives her second mention (the first is in SEXTON BLAKE'S LOST CLUE, UNION JACK issue 396).

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake instructs Wallace Lorimer to keep away from the office as Dr. X is bound to have him followed after his disguise at the Ology Club was exposed. He shows his two companions an advertisement which he intends to place in a newspaper; it offers Mary Aylin's secretarial skills for hire and Blake has worded it in such a way that Dr. X may take the bait. Their further planning is interrupted when Raffles announces a visitor: Professor Murgatroyd. Lorrimer and Miss Aylin hide while the detective greets his enemy. Murgatroyd attempts to sweep the past aside as if it had all been a trial of errors and tries to hire Blake to investigate Dr. X. The detective accepts the commission for £5,000 plus a £500 down payment. The professor hands over the money and Blake recognises the dates and numbers of the notes; the money is part of the haul stolen from the London and Suburban Bank (see SEXTON BLAKE'S LOST CLUE, UNION JACK issue 396, 1901). Murgatroyd realises that he's made a crucial mistake. Blake holds him at gunpoint and calls for Lorrimer. The latter checks the numbers and confirms that the notes are stolen. Raffles is ordered to fetch the police and the professor is given over into custody.

Trivia: In this and the previous instalment, Blake's office-boy, Raffles, gets a couple of good scenes and reveals himself to be a very early prototype of Tinker at his cheekiest.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake and the police officer bundle Professor Murgatroyd into a cab and set off for Bow Street Police Station. However, as Raffles observes, there are two loafers watching the office and one of them leaps onto the back of the vehicle. He informs Wallace Lorrimer that the two men are spying on the detective team's every move. Lorrimer sends Mary Aylin away and, when the second man attempts to board her cab, beats him away. A shouted warning from Raffles saves his life as the loafer stabs at him with a knife before racing off. During the days that follow many more attempts are made on his life and Lorrimer concludes that Dr. X is behind them. Eventually, the time comes for Professor Murgatroyd's trial. He is sentenced to nine months in gaol. Watching from the public gallery is Dr. X. As he leaves, Blake follows.

Trivia: Another big episode for Raffles.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake follows Dr. X to the house previously noted by Wallace Lorimer. Outside, he buys the 'beat' of the local street sweeper and, in disguise, keeps his eye on the residence. After three days, he receives a 'tip' from Dr. X and the coin proves to be counterfeit. Perhaps forgery, then, is the criminal activity the mysterious president of the Ology Club is indulging in? Before the detective can investigate further, he is informed by Lorrimer that an anonymous note has been delivered to the office which reveals the whereabouts of Mrs. Mason, the woman who had guarded Mary Aylin during her imprisonment. The two men catch a cab to the address in East London — Baker's Cottages — and are guided by an old woman into a cellar room. The staircase is hauled up behind them, leaving them trapped.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake and Wallace Lorimer are imprisoned in the house cellar. When their cries for help are met with no response, the detective starts blowing a whistle. Across the road, the cab-driver who drove them to the house, a man named William Bates who happens to live nearby, hears the racket and tries to gain entry to the house. The old woman objects until Bates pretends that his fare had given him a bad coin in payment. This seems to frighten the woman and she flees, leaving the cabbie to free the two detectives. When he relates this to Blake, the sleuth realises that there might be some connection with Dr. X's counterfeiting operation. He deduces that Mrs. Mason, who had worked for Septimus Murgatroyd, may have 'changed sides', now being employed by the Ology Club president.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Mary Aylin reports that the fish has taken the bait — Dr. X has responded to the advertisement placed by Blake and she is to become his private secretary. Meanwhile, Wallace Lorrimer goes to prison in the guise of a convict in order to keep watch on Professor Murgatroyd. Lorrimer becomes convict No.43; Murgatroyd is No.41. Between them, in Cell 42, is a burglar named Henry Jackson. Lorrimer befriends this man and, through him, tries to find out about the Professor's activities. But Jackson realises that his neighbour is a 'lag' and vows to warn Maurgatroyd.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Wallace Lorimer has a meeting with the prison governor to plan the next part of his mission to find out more about Professor Murgatroyd's criminal activities. The professor is already suspicious, having been informed by Henry Jackson that 'Prisoner 43' has been asking about him. Murgatroyd is called to the governor and told that he is to be transferred to a different prison. It's a set up: en route, it is made very easy for him to escape. He duly does so and is followed by Lorrimer to Baker's Cottages where he knocks at the door of the house where Blake and Lorrimer had been held captive. William Bates appears from the residence across the road, where he lives, and informs the villain that the inhabitants have moved. He tells Murgatroyd their new address. After the professor has left, Lorrimer approaches Bates, asks him for the address, and requests that the cab-driver meet him there in two hours.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Outside Dr. X's house, Sexton Blake is still posing as a street sweeper. Mary Aylin, now the doctor's secretary, emerges from the residence and informs the detective that her employer has received a telegram telling him to go to a specific location to 'meet his greatest enemy'. An hour later, Dr. X sets off for the rendezvous with Blake trailing behind. They travel to an industrial area of Bermondsey where, at a large five-storey building, the doctor stops and knocks on the door. Blake waits outside as his quarry enters. Dr. X meets inside one of his henchmen, Wilkins, who tells him that Murgatroyd has been made prisoner upstairs. But Wilkins has turned traitor and the doctor quickly finds himself locked in a room with Septimus Murgatroyd gloating over him. His enemy tells him that he is to be left here until he starves to death.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Professor Murgatroyd and Wilkins tightly bind Dr. X then, after locking the door on the inside, they leave the room via a skylight, cross to the next building, and make their getaway unseen by the waiting Sexton Blake. Some hours pass before the detective, growing impatient, decides to investigate the premises and calls the police to assist him. Eventually the group reaches the roof and they look down through the glass. In the room below, the doctor lies dead with a dagger in his chest. Descending, Blake finds the names 'Murgatroyd' and 'Wilkins' scratched into the wall beside a small hole that has been bored between the brickwork. Wallace Lorimer arrives and the detective sends him to fetch Dr. X's widow. A medical man arrives and agrees with Blake's assertion that the knife is in a body at a strange angle. Upon extraction, two letters are seen engraved on the blade — S. M. Septimus Murgatroyd! Lorrimer returns with Mrs. MacPherson. Blake asks her whether she knows a man named Wilkins. She tells him that she does — he was employed by her husband on private business. Lorrimer reveals that he met the man two days previously.

Trivia: In the final paragraphs, the name 'Winter' is substituted for 'Wilkins'. This proves extremely confusing until the next issue, in which the continuing story makes it plain that 'Wilkins' was meant.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake surprises everyone by declaring that Professor Murgatroyd is innocent of the murder of Dr. X. Before explaining further, he returns to his office with Wallace Lorimer and Mrs MacPherson and asks the latter to explain why her husband and Murgatroyd had been such bitter rivals. She tells him that Dr. X's real name was Phineas Montagu and that his life had been threatened by Murgatroyd after he married her — something Murgatroyd wanted to do himself. Montagu had never been seen by the professor and so thought he could escape into obscurity if he married under an assumed name. Thus were created 'Mr and Mrs MacPherson.' After time, 'Mr MacPherson' joined the Ology Club. Knowing that Murgatroyd was a member, he took extra precautions by adopting yet another name — Dr. X — and always wore a mask. Eventually he became president of the club; a fact which excited Murgatroyd's envy and which made Dr. X the target of the professor's murderous schemes. Even Murgatroyd's attempt to marry Mary Aylin had been motivated by the money she would one day inherit ... money he could use to finance his battle against the doctor. As Blake notes, "Wheels within wheels." After the woman's story is told, Blake challenges Lorrimer to explain the murder. His pupil pleases him with an accurate deduction: Dr. X aka Professor MacPherson aka Phineas Montagu had managed to free one hand from the ropes that bound him, had scratched the names into the wall, bored the hole with the knife point, jammed the hilt into it, then thrown himself upon the blade in order to make his suicide appear to be a murder committed by his enemy. The next step in the investigation, says Blake, is to find Wilkins and, since the ropes around the victim had obviously been tied by a sailor, the Thames is the place to look. The detective sets watchers at different points along the river and soon receives a message from one; Murgatroyd and Wilkins are aboard the Mary Alice.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Sexton Blake and Wallace Lorimer, disguised as river men, take a boat on the Thames and start to search for the Mary Alice. Blake surmises that Professor Murgatroyd and Wilkins are making for a yacht somewhere out to sea in which they intend to flee the country. Spotting the fugitives' barge, the two detectives give chase. Under the stress of the pursuit, Murgatroyd starts drinking and is soon drunk and wild. He argues with Wilkins over the henchman's payment and a fight erupts. Murgatroyd stabs Wilkins in the chest, committing murder in full view of Blake and Lorrimer. The professor leaps overboard, swims ashore, and disappears into the night. Blake searches the barge and discovers that his quarry's yacht is named the Minerva. It is moored some miles away off Southend and is due to sail for New York. The detective sends a cablegram to a colleague in that city — Jefferson Hart — requesting that he keep a watch for the vessel's arrival.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: In Southend, Blake and Wallace Lorimer spot the Minerva anchored offshore. When a steamship arrives from Ostend, they see a detective named Tranton scanning the passengers as if looking for someone. Unfortunately, he overbalances and falls into the sea. He is rescued and Blake introduces himself. Tranton explains that he was hunting Anton Trevini, a French anarchist. After being shown a photo of the man, Blake offers to keep watch while his colleague goes to a hotel to change into dry clothing. Blake discovers that Trevini jumped ship earlier and is heading for Gravesend. He sends a message to Tranton then he and Lorrimer board a steam-tug and give chase. At Gravesend they part; Lorrimer going to the police to report the murder of Wilkins and Blake following Trevini's trail. The anarchist boards a London-bound train with Blake close behind. They arrive in the capital but there the villain eludes the detective and for two days the chase is stalled. At his office, Blake hatches a plan with Lorrimer. Soon posters appear around the city advertising a public address by the great Italian anarchist, Spermetti. The meeting is held and Spermetti gives a rousing speech. But his inability to understand some heckling shouted in Italian leads the crowd to suspect him as an imposter ... which he indeed is. Spermetti is Wallace Lorrimer and the meeting has been invented to draw Trevini out of hiding. In the audience, Mary Aylin becomes scared for Lorrimer's safety and outside Blake is just about to act when he hears footsteps approaching ...

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: The approaching man turns out to be Trevini. Blake has him arrested and taken away by the police. This angers the gathered anarchists and one of them, a man named Devito, swears vengeance. Wallace Lorimer manages to escape from the suspicious crowd and returns, with Mary Aylin, to Blake's office. A few days pass before a cablegram arrives from New York; the Minerva has arrived and Jefferson Hart is on Professor Murgatroyd's trail. Blake sails for America but Devito has followed him and tries to kill him. The assassination attempt fails and the anarchist falls overboard and is drowned. At journey's end, Blake meets with Hart and asks him to describe Murgatroyd. He does so and Blake is dismayed to find that the American detective has been shadowing the wrong man.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Jefferson Hart points out the Minerva in New York harbour and Blake notes that it has been painted a different colour. The two detectives enter a bar where Blake gives his American colleague the details of the Murgatroyd case. Afterwards, they are joined by a giant Swede, Mr. Bertram Hargerson, the man Hart had mistaken for the professor. Instead of shadowing him, the detective had befriended him and kept tabs on him that way. The three men enjoy a few drinks and Hart tells his companions about one of his cases — he has been commissioned by the family of an eccentric millionaire named Ebenezer Bullydod to prevent the old man from giving away all his money to hospitals. As Hart suspected he would, Hargerson takes an unusual interest in this and asks to see Bullydod. Throughout their time with Hargerson, Blake and Hart keep him well lubricated with alcohol and, by the evening, it pays off. During a meal, the Swede lets slip that Professor Murgatroyd took on a new identity during the voyage across the Atlantic. The detectives try to get more information but Hargerson becomes suspicious and escapes from them.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Sexton Blake and Jefferson Hart set men to watch all the haunts Hargerson is known to frequent. Blake spots Professor Murgatroyd walking along a New York thoroughfare and the two detectives give chase. Without knowing that he's being pursued, their quarry gets clean away. Hart advises that the best way to get back on his track is to first find Hargerson ... and the best way too do that is to pay a visit to The Cripples' Club ...

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: The Cripples' Club is a meeting place for New York's petty criminals; the men and women who disguise themselves as the sick and maimed in order to draw money from charitable citizens. Sexton Blake is introduced to the shabby premises by Jefferson Hart, a familiar face to the club's denizens. They meet with "Slick Sam the Soap-Swooner" who knows Hargerson but refuses to give away his location. Sam does, however, agree to follow the Swede and report his movements to the two detectives. Blake overhears a huddle of crooks planning a train robbery. He hears the name 'Murgatroyd' mentioned.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake and Jefferson Hart leave the Cripples' Club and the English sleuth reveals what he has heard — the crooks, led by an American named Ike Murnaghan, a Mexican named Rodriguez Gomez, and a Chinaman named Lo Feng, had been discussing Professor Murgatroyd and are obviously searching for him. They know that Hargerson is writing to him and that he is somewhere in Montreal. That night, they plan to hold up the mail train in order to intercept Hargerson's correspondence. But when they do so, Blake and Hart are waiting and after the robbery takes place, the detectives, together with a posse of lawmen, ride after the gang of thieves.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: In the dead of night, Blake and his posse of men approach the secluded ranch where the Murnaghan gang have settled to sort through the proceeds of their train robbery. Lo Feng, standing guard, is silently put out of action by Jefferson Hart. The lawmen then raid the building, capturing the entire gang. Blake recovers the letter posted from Hargerson to Professor Murgatroyd and wants to open it but Hart objects, not liking the thought of interfering with the mail even if its intended recipient is a wanted criminal.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Sexton Blake and Jefferson Hart are en route back to New York by train. Also aboard are a number of secret service men, guarding the Murnaghan gang. Hart continues to object to tearing open the letter but offers a compromise — he steams it open. The contents simply warn Professor Murgatroyd that Ike Murnaghan is likely to head north to find him. Blake plans to race to Montreal to catch the professor when he visits the post office to collect the letter. Shortly before the train arrives in New York, Lo Feng wriggles free from his captors and makes a break for it. Jumping from a window, he gets clean away. After a short interval at the station, Blake boards another train, this one bound for Montreal. But its journey is interrupted when it reaches a section of track that has been vandalised; the rails pulled up and scattered. While the train is standing still, the detective spots a man sneaking aboard — Lo Feng!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: The rails are eventually repaired and the train continues north to Montreal. Upon arrival, Lo Feng follows Sexton Blake to a hotel and keeps watch. The next morning, Blake leaves, heavily disguised. However, the Chinaman has sharp eyes and recognises the English detective by his walk, so sets off in pursuit.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Shadowed by Lo Feng, Sexton Blake enters the post office to which Hargerson's letter had been posted and there waits and watches. Eventually a teenage boy asks for any post for 'Murgatroyd'. He receives the letter and quickly slips it into an envelope which he posts before Blake gets a chance to see the address. Disappointed, the detective returns to his hotel. The next day, he keeps watch on the post office again and, in turn, is watched by Lo Feng. When the teenager comes to collect another item of mail, he is grabbed by two men employed by Blake. But he throws the letter to a colleague who makes off with it. Days pass with no further progress until, to Blake's surprise, he is approached by Lo Feng. The Chinaman offers to show him where Murgatroyd is in return for amnesty and £100. The detective agrees to these terms. He is guided to a shabby part of town and the offices of 'Samson Hoskins, Crime Investigator'. He enters and finds himself confronted by Murgatroyd with a levelled revolver. He has been led into a trap! As Lo Feng sneaks away, Blake shoots the gun out of Murgatroyd's hand but is then set upon by two clerks. Desperately, he holds his three opponents at bay.

Trivia: In this issue, there's an example of Blake's 'lust for glory' (not unusual in these early years): Already in fancy he saw himself carrying out the long-deferred arrest of Septimus Murgatroyd, and returning triumphant to England, with new laurels added to his fame as a detective.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Believing that they are faced with an escaped lunatic, Murgatroyd's clerks, Burke and Laroche, leap upon Sexton Blake and overpower him. Leaving him bound and gagged, they set off for the police station. Looking through the keyhole, Lo Feng watches as Murgatroyd gloats over his prisoner. The villain drags Blake into a secret lift inside his strong room but, before he closes the door, Lo Feng appears and asks for payment. Murgatroyd arranges to meet him at a place called Ah Sin's at 8pm. He then closes the door and the lift rises to the floor above. After heaping abuse upon his captive, he exits via the window, leaving the detective to starve to death. In the guise of Samson Hoskins, Murgatroyd informs the police that the wanted criminal, Lo Feng, will be at Ah Sin's that evening. A Police officer named Herbert Basford arrests the Chinaman who, realising that he's been betrayed, informs Basford that Hoskins and Murgatroyd are one and the same. In the meantime, Murgatroyd sends a cable in Blake's name to lure Wallace Lorrimer out to the States. He then takes a train west.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake lies suffering in Murgatroyd's hidden room, unable to break free from his bonds. After a day has passed, he hears someone at the room's door. Lo Feng, in return for amnesty and freedom, has informed Herbert Basford of Blake's whereabouts. The young policeman has come to the English detective's rescue. A week later, Blake arrives in Chicago where he meets up with Jefferson Hart. Blake has received a cable from Wallace Lorrimer asking why his summons was not sent in code. Blake replies that the summons had not been sent by him but by Murgatroyd. Hart reveals that he has followed Hargerson to Chicago and that Murgatroyd is somewhere in town. The New York sleuth also knows the story behind the Murnaghan gang's pursuit of the professor ...

Trivia: Sexton Blake makes another mention of his unnamed wife. He also has 'relatives'.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Jefferson Hart tells Sexton Blake that Professor Murgatroyd is in possession of documents which detail the location of gold deposits in western America. The Murnaghan gang had been attempting to steal these from him. When the two detectives follow Hargerson, they see him accidentally drop a piece of paper. Upon inspection, this proves to be a plan of Murgatroyd's route to the gold fields. Hart and Blake set off in pursuit and, two days later, stop for supplies at a ranch on the edge of the great prairies. They learn that their quarry is not far ahead and give chase on horseback. They close with the professor but the villain evades them and gallops away. Suddenly another mounted figure appears and intercepts Murgatroyd. The man Blake has chased across two continents falls from his saddle, a knife buried in his heart.

Rating: ★★★★☆ After all this time, Murgatroyd's death comes as a distinct anticlimax. It seems as if the author simply tired of him and decided, for no other reason, to send the serial off on another tack altogether.

Notes: Professor Murgatroyd's killer proves to be Lo Feng, who has revenged himself for the villain's betrayal. Blake and Hart take him prisoner and return, with Murgatroyd's body, to the ranch. They search the corpse but find no sign of the documents. However, that night Lo Feng smokes an opium pipe and, during his subsequent delirium, talks to himself and reveals to the listening Jefferson Hart that he knows where the gold is.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Jefferson Hart retrieves a map to the gold mine from Lo Feng's pocket. He and Blake decide to find the mine but first they take Lo Feng to Chicago and hand him over to the authorities. The Chinaman receives 'the extreme penalty of the law for murder'. Blake and Hart next make their way to South Dakota and a rough wild west shanty town called the Red Dog Mining Camp. They book into the local hotel but there Hart gets into a fight with a ruffian named Black Bill. The New Yorker seems to be winning the scrap when, suddenly, Bill pulls a knife on him ...

Rating: ★★★★☆ Like Murgatroyd, Lo Feng is disposed of with a throwaway sentence and the plot moves into new territory without a backward glance.

Notes: After Black Bill is knocked to the floor by Jefferson Hart, the two detectives manage to make peace with the townsfolk, their main ally being a man named Red Rob. Black Bill leaves with a terrified youngster named Charlie in tow — who this boy is no-one can tell; only that he has been in Black Bill's charge for some time. Blake and Hart vow to find out more about this mystery child. In the meantime, they examine the plans gained from Murgatroyd via Lo Feng. They discover that they were once owned by a millionaire. Hart remembers the outcry when they were stolen — and that there's a huge reward for whoever returns them. Unfortunately, when he tells Blake this, Black Bill is eavesdropping.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake and Jefferson Hart rush out of their rooms to catch Black Bill but the villain has vanished. They return and copy out the directions to the secret gold mine which they decide to name the Narrow Squeak Claim. In the morning they set off to find the mine. They are joined by their new-found friend Red Rob. As the trio rides out of Red Dog Valley, the eyes of Black Bill are watching. Blake, Hart and Rob search the hills for some time and discover an abandoned ranch house. Although it is empty, it appears to be well-maintained, as if someone has been visiting it from time to time.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Sexton Blake, Red Rob and Jefferson Hart take up residence in the abandoned ranch house and continue their search for the secret gold mine. One night, the door is opened and a Sioux Indian steps in. He declares that he comes in peace and introduces himself as Single Eye — a name he gained after a white man robbed him of one eye. He tells the gold hunters that twice a month a vengeful spirit visits the ranch house and they should beware. He also makes a deal with Sexton Blake — if the detective helps him to trace the man who earned him his name, he will, in return, guide them to the mine. Blake agrees. The next morning the redskin takes them to the mine and they strike gold. Blake, meanwhile, identifies Single Eye's assailant — Black Bill!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake rounds up a posse of lawmen and, with Single Eye, rides into Red Dog town. Black Bill learns they are coming for him and flees on horseback, taking with him the young boy, Charlie. The posse catches up but the villain, halted at the edge of a canyon, threatens to drop the child over the edge if they come any closer. Single Eye creeps round him and attacks. Charlie runs free and Black Bill plummets into the canyon, a knife in his breast.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: I don't currently own this issue but from the one that follows I can deduce that in this instalment Blake and his friends take charge of the boy, Charlie, who they learn has been kidnapped. There is a reward offered for his recovery. They return to their ranch where they repel an attack by some roughnecks. Later, Blake and Jefferson Hart are working in the mine when they hear a gunshot ...

Unrated

Notes: Blake and Jefferson Hart race to their ranch where they find Red Rob seriously wounded. Charlie is tied up inside and the documents relating to the mine have been stolen. Red Rob describes his attackers and the two detectives realise that the gang was led by Bertram Hargerson — he is taking the documents back to the millionaire who's offering a huge reward for their recovery. Blake and Hart leave Charlie in the care of a kindly rancher and set off in pursuit. They reach New York shortly after their quarry. When they meet the millionaire, they learn that he's taken receipt of the papers but has not yet handed over the reward, wanting to verify the documents' authenticity first. Hargerson is due to return for his money the following day. Hart convinces the tycoon that he and Blake are the men who should receive the reward and that Hargerson is a criminal. They duly receive the money. Blake insists that Hart keep it all, as he himself will be well paid by the wife of Dr. X after his successful pursuit of Professor Murgatroyd. Red Rob, meanwhile, can return Charlie to his parents and claim the reward for doing so. Days later, Blake, in disguise, is on board a liner bound for England. Hargerson is also aboard. Upon arrival, Blake is greeted by Wallace Lorrimer. He tells his assistant that Hargerson is now in England, plotting revenge for Murgatroyd's death. When the detective's office boy brings in a visiting card, Blake is surprised to see the name of Bertram Hargerson upon it.

Trivia: Sexton Blake's office boy, previously named 'Raffles', is now named Praggles! This instalment ends with the announcement that Book II will begin in the next issue. In fact, it begins one issue later.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: This instalment concludes Book I. Bertram Hargerson enters the office and tries to commission Sexton Blake to search for Mary Aylin. Blake refuses. Wallace Lorimer warns Hargerson to stay away from Miss Aylin. After the giant Swede has left, Lorrimer writes to his fiancé for the second time that day. On the first occasion, it was to inform her that he had come into a big legacy. He gives the letter to the office-boy to deliver. Outside, Raggles is accosted by Hargerson who steals the letter and takes it to Mary Aylin's address. Lorrimer's note advises her to accompany the bearer to a place of safety. Unknowingly falling into the villain's hands, she goes with him to a house in Marylebone. Hargerson schemes to get his hands on her fortune. A week passes and Lorrimer is beside himself with concern for the vanished girl's safety. Eventually a cab driver gives the detectives a lead and they set off on the trail ... but Hargerson is moving from place to place, taking Mary Aylin with him. Eventually they catch up with the man, at the very moment he is attending the wedding of Aylin and a Lorrimer-lookalike. The latter escapes but the Swede is tackled and dies when his gun goes off. The real Lorrimer agrees to marry his love at the soonest possible moment. He also agrees to leave the detective business and, we are told, goes on to become a successful lawyer. Thus ends Book I.

Trivia: The office-boy, Raffles, who in the previous issue became Praggles, has now become Raggles! In one scene in this instalment he is sitting in Blake's office reading the MARVEL!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Raggles the office boy brings a telegram to Sexton Blake. It is from the detective's old friend John Graves, a jeweller in Salisbury, who has suffered a robbery. Wallace Lorrimer, who has resumed work with Blake despite his promise to his wife that he would give up the business, insists on helping the detective with the case. On the way to the train station, on Falcon Street, they witness a man hastily having his beard removed at a barber's. They then learn that a murder has been committed nearby in a richly decorated room (though the house and area is otherwise poverty-stricken). After reporting the crime to the police, the partners continue their journey to the cathedral city. On the way, Blake guesses that the murder victim was a fence and that the man in the barber shop may have not only been the killer but might also be connected with the Graves case. In Salisbury, he begins investigating the burglary and discovers a line of footprints in the snow at the back of Graves' house.

Trivia: At the start of this adventure, Wallace Lorrimer and Sexton Blake have been working together for two years and ten weeks.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake examines the footprints that suggest a connection with the man he and Wallace Lorrimer had seen at the barber's. Returning to London — but leaving Lorrimer to pose as Graves' shop assistant — Blake learns that his chief suspect is named John Benton and he has been detained by the police for murder. Meanwhile, Lorrimer uncovers evidence that John Graves may have himself committed the jewel robbery.

Trivia: From this instalment, the secondary title of SEXTON BLAKE OUT WEST is dropped and replaced by 'Or, the Further Exploits and Triumphs of SEXTON BLAKE, the renowned Crime Investigator.'

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: In Graves' shop, Wallace Lorimer receives a visit from John Oliver Short, a detective who's working for Graves' insurance company. Short asserts that the jeweller committed the robbery himself in order to defraud the company. Lorrimer is inclined to agree with him but, via telegram, is instructed by Blake to take no action. Short confronts Graves just as Sexton Blake arrives. He has brought with him a man he claims is the thief. It is Graves's nephew, Richard Littlejohn.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake tells Graves to take a second look at the man he has just introduced as the jewel thief. Graves does so and discovers that it is not his nephew at all, but a marvellous likeness of him. Blake explains that the supposed connection between the robbery and the man John Benton was false; that the investigation was further hampered by the fact that Graves didn't reveal everything on account of suspecting his own nephew of the crime. The footprints provided another red herring, for there had been no snowfall until after the robbery — and Graves had made the prints himself while sleepwalking! In truth, the theft had been committed by Robert Thisleton, son of Squire Hildebrand, who now pleads guilty and returns the jewels. He claims to have acted out of vengeance and is about to explain when a bullet shatters the window and hits John Oliver Short.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake and Wallace Lorimer race out of the shop and see a man running away. They chase after him and witness him entering a cellar via an alleyway. Their quarry locks the trapdoor after him, so the two detectives circle the building until they find a window that opens onto the room. Inside, they observe five men, each resembling one another and all dressed exactly alike. The members of this 'League of Five' all wear a badge with a number on it. No.1 asks No.5 whether he killed John Oliver Short. No.5 replies that he can't be certain. These men, thinks Blake, seem to distrust one another yet are obviously working together on some criminal scheme. The meeting breaks up and as No.5 leaves the detectives pounce upon him. They take him to John Graves' shop where Short lies wounded but out of danger. No.5's appearance proves to be a disguise which, once removed, reveals him to be George Harrison, a burglar known to Blake.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake and Wallace Lorimer escort their prisoner by train to London but, en route, he attempts to escape and during the struggle falls out of the carriage into the path of an oncoming train and is killed. Blake leaves Lorrimer to return to the office and takes on the identity of Harrison in order to infiltrate the League of Five. Meanwhile, Ralph Thistleton tells John Oliver Short his story: he had fallen in love with a girl named Rose Dayrell but had a rival in Richard Graves, the jeweller's nephew. He'd sought revenge on Richard after learning that his rival had won Rose's hand and so tried to frame him for robbery. Later, he repented and is now returning the stolen jewels and intends to relocate to Canada.

Trivia: In major inconsistencies, George Harrison has mysteriously become James Harrison and his League of Five number has changed from 5 to 3, while Robert Thistleton has become Ralph!

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake, in disguise, befriends John Oliver Short and warns him that further threats will be made on his life. Short refuses to act on the advice. Blake, learning that the League of Five are to meet again, disguises himself as No. 3 and infiltrates the gang. He is ordered to kill Short but manages to get a week's grace before the deed must be done.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake writes a letter of introduction to Dr Thrashard — the headmaster of Drearville Academy — in which he introduces Wallace Lorrimer as Timothy Tattlemore, a 19-year-old whose private education needs to be supplemented. Lorrimer travels to the school and is picked up at the train station by the establishment's handy-man, Job Keen. Upon arrival, he sets about ingratiating himself with his fellow pupils.

Trivia: When Lorrimer leaves to travel to the school, he is seen off at the station by two ladies. One is his wife. The other is 'Mrs Sexton Blake'.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Timothy Tattlemore (otherwise Wallace Lorimer) learns that the school is supposedly haunted and that the assistant master, Mr Sweetly, may be a spiritualist. During the night, Tattlemore witnesses the headmaster sleepwalking and follows him. Thrashmore enters through a baize doorway into the abandoned east wing of the building. The door locks behind him and Tattlemore's attempt to stay on his trail is thwarted.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Tattlemore (Wallace Lorimer) plays the dunce in classes but excels on the sports field. This earns him the loyalty of his fellow pupils, particularly one named Tom Watkins. Next day, a rumour spreads that another robbery has been committed at the school. Watkins tells him that since the term began items have been stolen from the boys and the masters. Mr Sweetly, he says, thinks a ghost is responsible. Tattlemore confides in Watkins about seeing the headmaster sleepwalking ... not realising that he is overheard by a local man named Ned Garstike. Watkins informs his new friend that a few weeks previously a pupil named Claude Henshaw went missing.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Author debut: Alec George Pearson was reputedly an ex-Naval man. He was a prolific writer of boys' fiction and was responsible for ten Sexton Blake stories.

Notes: Harvey Grant receives a small card upon which nothing is printed aside from a black crescent. He immediately flees his home, Holmwood Grange — which he shares with his younger brother, Gerald — hires temporary hands to crew his yacht, and puts to sea. Two days later, the Flying Scud is found drifting with nobody aboard ... aside from Grant's corpse. How he died is a mystery ... but there is a strange chemical odour clinging to the dead man's head and shoulders. Gerald Grant consults Maxwell Grey, the "Ocean Detective," who identifies the chemical as a rare poison that can cause instant death through its fumes alone. The next night, the investigator boards the Flying Scud and finds its shipkeeper unconscious. An intruder barges past him, dropping a pistol as he does so, jumps overboard, and escapes in a small submarine picket-boat. The vessel leaves a trail of phosphorescence, which Grey follows in a rowing boat to a yacht named Lightning. He boards it, enters its cabin with his weapon drawn, and holds three men at gunpoint. Throwing down the card with the crescent on it, he tells them it was left at Holmwood Grange by Sebastian Vardo (he'd seen that name engraved on the dropped pistol). When one of the men responds, Grey is satisfied that he's found his chief suspects. Vardo informs him that he is now up against the Black Crescent and won't live for long. Grey makes his getaway. Twenty-four hours later, he learns that a body with a crescent tattooed on its chest has washed ashore in Malta. Grey charters a steam yacht — the Astrea — and six days later arrives at that island. There, he encounters a man who has the odour of the poison chemical about him, so follows him to a house and breaks into it. Unfortunately, it's a trap, and Grey is imprisoned in an air-tight room and left to suffocate. He is rescued by Sexton Blake, who happens to be also investigating the gang. Grey tells him that Vardo and his cohorts are modern-day wreckers. The two detectives search the house and find a bomb and poison-making laboratory, which they destroy, and a cypher that Blake decrypts as: DESTINATION IS CHIOS. This, a Greek island, is their next port of call. Upon arrival, they see a light that is obviously designed to lure ships onto the reefs ... and a steamer heading toward it. They swim ashore, and while Kennedy enters the gang's lair, Blake steals the little submarine, pilots it to the Lightning, and sets the yacht afire to warn off the approaching ship. Kennedy confronts Vardo and kills him. The rest of the gang are rounded up. It is revealed that Harvey Grant was once a member of the Black Crescent and had been killed for leaving the gang..

Trivia: Sexton Blake is described as being thirty or thirty-three years of age. With regard to the SEXTON BLAKE TIMELINE, this would place the events of this case a decade before the story's publication.

Prior to this, Blake and Maxwell Grey have met only once before, during the "blue diamond mystery." As far as I'm aware, that case never saw publication.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Scotland Yard detective Caleb Griffin appears in this tale and loses out because he is resentful of Sexton Blake's successes. He features again, in a more sympathetic light, in THE CONVICT HUNT; OR, SEXTON BLAKE'S TRIUMPH (see below).

Unrated

Notes: A man named Maxwell Grey — the 'sea detective' — is visited by the First Lord of the Admiralty who reveals that foreign spies intend to damage vessels in the Navy's fleet. The agents are currently believed to be in France and Grey is commissioned to stop them by whatever means. Noticing that his visitor has been followed, Grey bids him farewell then shadows his tail. Arriving at a shabby-looking house, Grey quietly breaks in after his quarry has entered. He hears a meeting and mention of something due to happen in Cherbourg on the 15th, then boldly enters the room and imprints the four faces he sees on his memory before making a quick getaway. A few days later, Grey discovers that Sexton Blake is also on the case and meets him on the outskirts of Cherbourg. Blake has discovered that the spies are to gather on a ship named the Garonne, so Grey disguises himself as the ship's steward and replaces that man. Blake stows away and soon both men are at sea with the group of spies. These men, led by a submarine designer named Ambrose Gautier, hate Britain and plan to make their attack off the south coast. The submarine they'll use is following the Garonne, guided by a wire trailing from the stern with a weighted light at its end. Grey cuts this to cause a delay in his opponent's plans but he and Blake are discovered. A bullet hits the Baker Street detective and he falls overboard. Realising that his own position is dire, Grey leaps after him. After more than an hour in the water, Grey sees that the submarine has surfaced. He swims to it and clings to its deck as it powers towards land. Half a mile off shore, he swims to safety. In the morning, Grey paddles a boat to the islands of Saint Pierre, from which he had seen signals flashed during the night. There he bumps into Sexton Blake who, only slightly injured by the bullet, had clung to a lifebuoy and drifted to the islands. He too had seen the signals and believes this to be the spies' base. The two men enter the hideaway, discovering a sophisticated submarine and weapons workshop. There are also deep sea diving suits with built-in air supplies. Grey dons one of these and begins exploring the sea bed outside the workshop hoping to find the submarine docked there. He is attacked by a giant cuttlefish and rescued by the crew of the sub who then take him prisoner. Blake rescues him and the pair make their getaway only to find themselves lost in a thick fog. Eventually they arrive at the threatened port and keep a round-the-clock watch for the Garonne. Blake dons a disguise and takes a message to the vessel. Purportedly from a sympathiser, it recommends the attack to begin immediately as the targets are due to set sail. Grey, in a small canoe, traces the position of the submarine by bubbles rising to the surface. When the sub itself emerges from the deep, he boards it and confronts Gautier. They fight, causing the torpedoes to be accidentally launched. They blow up the Garonne (Blake dives overboard in the nick of time). Their continued struggles then result in the sub diving with its hatch still open. Grey swims free but Gautier is trapped and drowns.

Trivia: Blake states that his swimming limit is a mile and a half. He doesn't much like the idea of diving suits.

Rating: ★★★★☆ This is great fun even though Maxwell Grey takes the honours as hero rather than Blake, who is demoted to 'sidekick' status.

Notes: Dick Hurst, a pit lad, is on his way home from his shift when his terrier detects a couple of men lurking in a thicket. Realising they've been spotted, they attack the lad, leaving him semi-conscious. Through a haze of pain, he hears them plotting to burgle Brackley Manor, home of mine owner, Martin Kingsley. He follows them there, tries to stop them stealing £10,000-worth of diamonds, but is knocked out by a vicious blow to the head. When he's discovered by Kingsley, the householder immediately presumes him to be one of the burglars. Scotland Yard sends Caleb Griffin to investigate. Kingsley calls Sexton Blake. The latter quickly asserts that the thieves were a couple of master safecrackers, Rook and Crook. Examining the location of Dick Hurst's first encounter with the pair, the criminologist discovers a more recent trail, follows it, and finds Rook on the ground with a serious head injury. Taking the criminal back to the manor, he questions him and learns that Crook betrayed his partner and made off with the diamonds alone. Dick Hurst is proven innocent. Rook dies. Griffin catches up with Crook but is shot and badly injured. The villain takes shelter in the old part of the coal mines. Blake follows him down and, amid dangerous clouds of "fire-damp," confronts him. Crook tries to shoot the detective but his gun ignites the gas and causes a terrific chain of explosions. Fourteen miners are trapped underground, including Dick Hurst's father. Martin Kingsley and Dick lead the rescue mission and all the men are saved. Blake, meanwhile, recovers his senses, having been knocked cold by the detonation. He finds the diamonds on Crook's corpse and is then rescued by Dick Hurst.

Trivia: As in much earlier tales, Blake appears to be much concerned with money and is something of a braggart where his earning power is concerned.

Caleb Griffin also featured a couple of stories ago in THE CLUE OF THE FRECKLED HAND (see issue 420).

Rating: ★★☆☆☆