Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1927

Notes: After the former chairman of Northport Rovers, Roland Crane, is found dead below the cliffs at Bleak Bay, one of the team's directors, Baldock, summons Sexton Blake and Tinker. At the end of the previous football season, the club had experienced considerable upheaval, with the directors at loggerheads, and with Crane ousted and replaced by Marcus Manning, who gained a controlling interest. The implication is that Crane, in consequence, committed suicide. Drawing up to Baldock's house in a taxi, Blake and Tinker see him at the door in conversation with Manning. Baldock introduces Blake as "Stanley Brett" — a talented footballer — and Tinker as Brett's valet. Manning departs. Baldock tells the detective that Crane was murdered, and that he suspects the man's nephew, footballer Tony Crane, of the crime. The situation is complicated by the fact that this young man wishes to marry Baldock's daughter, Doris. When his uncle had lost his position, he'd demanded that Tony stop playing for the club or else his allowance would be stopped. Tony had refused and, when his uncle carried out his threat, he'd signed with the club as a professional while also continuing to experiment with a motor-boat engine that he's designing. Soon after Blake and Tinker's arrival, Tony reports to Doris that his uncle's papers have been ransacked. Blake sends Tinker to examine the spot where the apparent suicide occurred. While the youngster is doing so, he narrowly escapes being crushed by falling rock and half suspects that it was pushed by a one-eyed man who he encounters a few minutes later. Tinker then goes to the football ground where Blake has joined the training. He meets Rolls, the club's manager, and Tony Crane, who Blake will be replacing for the Saturday match, as the young player will be attending his uncle's funeral. Later, with Blake, he returns to Bleak Bay and the detective reveals that, having examined the body, he now has evidence that suggests murder over suicide. They book room in the local inn, only to discover that it's owned by the one-eyed man, whose name is Albert Judd. During the night, Tinker sees a flashing light out in the bay. Then someone tries the door to his room.

Trivia: My copy is missing all the pages apart from the Sexton Blake story. This serial was reprinted in an abridged form in THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY second series issue 181 (1929).

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Tinker finds Judd at his door. The landlord gives an unconvincing excuse and departs. The next morning, Blake practices with the team while Tinker watches. The manager, Henry Rolls, and director, Marcus Manning, also watch as two players collide and are taken off the pitch with injuries. To replace them, Rolls recruits Blake to play in the Saturday match and also cancels Tony Crane's leave. Blake later tells Tinker that the accident was carefully arranged. Later, in town, Tinker catches sight of Judd, shadows him, and sees him meeting with "Bullock" Blades, one of the team's players. He follows the two men to Rolls's house then reports back to his guv'nor. The match begins — Northport Rovers vs. Maston Villa — and Bullock Blades not only fumbles many a shot but also comes close to "accidentally" crippling Blake. At half time, the detective wonders whether he was added to the team specifically so that Blades could have a go at him. A policeman enters the changing room and demands that Tony Crane accompany him to the station.

Trivia: My copy is missing all the pages apart from the Sexton Blake story.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake intervenes and persuades the constable not to remove Crane until the second half of the match is played. The game recommences and Bullock Blades continues to fumble. Despite his attempts at sabotage, Blake and Crane give the Rovers a 2 - 1 win. Afterwards, Blake accompanies the young player to the police station. Crane sticks to his story that, at the time his uncle was killed, he was out in Bleak Bay testing his newly designed motor-boat engine. However, as Blake later explains to Tinker and Baldock, new evidence has been presented: Crane's launch was seen by the skipper of a trawler, the Eliza May, making for the shore with no lights. To investigate this claim, Blake and Tinker disguise themselves as down-at-heel seamen and visit the ship, ostensibly looking for work but, in fact, wanting to question its captain, Absolom Ashbee. To their surprise, when they are ushered into his cabin, they find him in conference with Albert Judd.

Trivia: My copy is missing all the pages apart from the Sexton Blake story.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake and Tinker fight their way off the Eliza May and make their way back to Baldock's house. As they arrive, Marcus Manning telephones Baldock and asks after "Brett," the name Blake has adopted for this case. Baldock covers for the detective by asserting that he has not been out of the house. Events have by now shown that, whatever is going on at the club, Judd, Manning, Rolls and Blades are behind it. The next day, Blake and Tinker take a tram to the football ground, meeting Crane on the way. As the conveyance passes the quay, Tinker notes that the Eliza May has put to sea. In the changing room, after Blake and Crane have gone out to the pitch, Tinker has a run-in with Blades that ends with the youngster applying his fist to the footballer's chin. Later, he follows Blade down to the boiler room and witnesses him using the entrance to a secret tunnel.

Trivia: My copy is missing all the pages apart from the Sexton Blake story.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Tinker reports to Blake that there is a secret passage beneath the football ground. The detective hunts up some old maps and finds that the tunnel formerly ran out to Bleak Bay and was used for smuggling. When the football team sets off for an away match, Blake suspects that something might be occurring at the Bay in the Rover's absence. After the game, he, Tinker and Crane purposely miss the slow return train in order to speedily motor to the Bay, intending to get their first without arousing suspicion. They hire a driver named Briggs but, as they start across the moor between them and Northport, a severe snowstorm sweeps over it.

Trivia: I don't own this issue. The plot summary is from events mentioned in issue 23.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake and Tinker recognise one of the detectives as Bill the Bruiser, the engineer of the Eliza May. At Blake's demand, the two men reluctantly remove the handcuffs from Crane but fail to show an arrest warrant and, when they try to take Crane away, Blake, Tinker and the accused threaten physical resistance. Doris goes to call the police for confirmation of the arrest order. The bogus detectives make a rapid withdrawal. Blake confesses his true identity to Crane and Doris. That night, at the Baker Street man's request, Crane takes him and Tinker out into the bay in the motor-boat. They discover the Eliza May running without lights and exchanging signals with the shore. Crane lands Blake and Tinker on the beach. They climb a path up the cliff and pounce on a man at its top. To their surprise, it turns out to be Baldock!

Trivia: My copy is missing all the pages apart from the Sexton Blake story.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: This is a reprint of THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN TIE-PIN from THE PENNY PICTORIAL issue 626 (1911).

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Notes: This is a reprint of THE BLACK HAND MYSTERY from THE PENNY PICTORIAL issue 627 (1911).

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Notes: This is a reprint of THE GOONA PEARL MYSTERY from THE PENNY PICTORIAL issue 639 (1911).

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Notes: This is a reprint of THE MYSTERY OF THE THREE SOVEREIGNS from THE PENNY PICTORIAL issue 644 (1911).

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Notes: This is reprinted from ANSWERS WEEKLY issue 1,188 (1911).

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Notes: My copy is missing its cover.

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Notes: Story features Gilbert and Eileen Hale.

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Notes: Sexton Blake, Tinker and Detective-Inspector Thomas visit the Green Parrot club, which is an outlet for illegally brewed liquor. After obtaining a bottle of 'moonshine' whisky from the club, Blake sends Tinker to the Leeds factory where the bottle was made. When mysterious lorries arrive to pick up a cargo of bottles that match the one used for the illegal booze, Tinker stows away aboard one of the trucks, which is then driven to a secret location. There, he is spotted and knocked unconscious. He's recognised by Reggie Fetherston, who orders him put aboard a barge with the bottles. The prisoner and cargo are then transported to a secluded gorge and carried into a complex system of caves where huge stills are producing the illegal whisky. Here also are Algy Somerton and Archie Pherison; the whole operation is run by the Three Musketeers! The criminal trio lower Tinker into a cave shaft that opens into unknown depths. He has light and food for just three days. After two days have passed, Sexton Blake heads north in the Grey Panther to search for his assistant. He follows the trail and ends up captured by the crooked trio. They brutalise Pedro in front of the detective before throwing the bloodhound into the shaft. Blake goes into a berserker rage and attacks the criminals and their gang but is overpowered and lowered into the darkness. At the bottom of the shaft, he finds Pedro and, after a while, Tinker. Seeking escape, they follow the course of an underground stream until, eventually, they are sucked into a whirlpool and swept up into pool on the surface, near Whitby. They visit the local police and gather a large force of men to raid the crooks' base. The gang is caught and arrested but the Three Musketeers escape. However, they have not taken Pedro's nose into account and the vengeful hound soon tracks them down. The trio are arrested and their villainous career finally comes to an end ... at least until 2014, when I recounted their next criminal escapade in THE SILENT THUNDER CAPER (SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY, 6th series, issue 1).

Trivia: This story has a haunting scene in which Pedro, at Baker Street, senses Tinker's peril — and so does Mrs Bardell!

This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 663 (1939).

Rating: ★★★★★

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Notes: Story features Dr. Huxton Rymer and Marie Galante.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer and introduces Vali Mata-Vali. This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 628 (1938).

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Notes: Story features Gilbert and Eileen Hale.

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Notes: Story features Gunga Dass. This was reprinted as THE SIGN OF THE BLACK FEATHER in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 667 (1939).

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer. This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 631 (1938).

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Notes: This was anthologised in THE SEXTON BLAKE CASEBOOK (1987).

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Notes: Story features Gilbert and Eileen Hale.

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Notes: This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 659 (1939).

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Notes: Story features Dr. Ferraro.

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Notes: This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 680 (1939).

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Notes: Story features Dr. Huxton Rymer and Mary Trent. This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 640 (1938).

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Notes: Story features Splash Page. This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 623 (1938).

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Notes: None at present. This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 676 (1939).

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer and Vali Mata-Vali. This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 644 (1938).

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Notes: Story features Splash Page. This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 635 (1938).

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Notes: None at present. This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 646 (1938).

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Notes: This was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 651 (1938).

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Notes: Having survived the fire that ended his last adventure (see FROM INFORMATION RECEIVED UNION JACK 1,209, 1927), Dr Satira limps to a village doctor's house during the dead of night and kills the medical man. He treats his burns but is interrupted by the arrival of a man named Claban Cragg who has arrived in Britain to claim a large inheritance. Satira murders Cragg, adopts his identity then continues the man's journey to London and puts up at the Cosmo Hotel. Here he meets with Cragg's lawyers and receives the inheritance of £100,000 a year, a house in London, an estate in the country, and a remote island off the coast of Cornwall. When a murder brings Sexton Blake to the hotel, the detective connects it with Cragg — but, by that point, the disguised Satira has left the hotel with his henchman, Cropper. The murdered man had been an acquaintance of the real Cragg and, upon calling to see him, had realised that an impostor had taken his place. Blake traces Satira via Cragg's lawyers and sets off after his quarry. He catches up with him just as Satira launches a boat towards Cragg Island in a terrific storm. The vessel never makes it — Blake watches it crushed by a huge wave and Satira is lost, presumed dead.

Trivia: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 282 as WHERE IS DR. SATIRA? (1938)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Professor Crackstone, who runs a travelling boxing booth, visits Sexton Blake to ask his help in tracing Swaji, an Indian wrestler. A native of Buhl, Swaji has mysteriously vanished after working for Crackstone for six months. Blake visits Crackstone's show — currently near the village of Springbourne — and finds evidence that Swaji has been kidnapped. Further investigations reveal that a year ago the Rajah of Buhl was forced to abdicate after being mixed up in a murder case. He is now living in Cranstone Towers, just a couple of miles from Springbourne, and has been auctioning his jewels. Blake tries to gain an interview with him but is refused by one of the Rajah's thuggish American servants. The detective learns that the Rajah's original Indian staff were dismissed a few months after the disgraced monarch moved into the premises. Blake visits the letting agent, Richard Heathcote, but learns nothing from him. Upon leaving the agent's office, he notices a tremendously fat man getting out of a car. Back at Baker Street, a little later, Heathcote's niece turns up and tells the detective that her uncle has disappeared. Blake returns to Heathcote's office and listens to letters that have been dictated onto a wax disk. At the end of the letters, the arrival of a visitor has been recorded along with a conversation that is mostly inaudible but for the word 'Cranstone' and the exclamation "Not murder, Mr Brim!" That night, Blake breaks into Cranstone Towers, accompanied by Professor Crackstone and Alf White — the professor's assistant. Inside, they find a group of thugs partying hard. They also hear mention of a man named Peter the Spider. Moving deeper into the building, they discover Swaji in a state of drugged unconsciousness and, imprisoned in the dungeons, the Rajah himself. They liberate the monarch and Heathcote, who has also been incarcerated in the dungeons. Swaji, Blake discovers, has been forced to impersonate the Rajah to facilitate the sale of his jewels. In making an escape from the building, Blake and his friends are confronted by the tremendously fat man the detective had seen earlier — Peter Brim, the Spider! Blake shoots the pistol from the gang leader's hand but Brim then manages to escape. Some days later he sends Sexton Blake a message: I never forget or forgive!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake is warned that Peter the Spider is still bent on revenge. This information was smuggled out of prison by a crook named John Garth, who Detective-Inspector Coutts wants Blake to find, as he has evaded re-arrest, much to the Scotland Yard man's embarrassment. When Blake encounters Professor Crackstone (see previous issue), he learns that the boxing promoter's shows are being disrupted by the Spider's henchmen. A week passes, then Blake receives a visit from Munt, secretary to James Rowland, a reclusive millionaire. Munt reports that his employer has mysteriously vanished. Blake finds clues in Rowland's hotel room that suggest he has gone to the Isle of Scilly to meet with a man named Legge. Munt pays him to go there to confirm this. At his guv'nor's instruction, Tinker picks up Professor Crackstone and one of his boxers, Alf, and follows Blake, keeping at a distance until needed. The detective arrives in the Scillies where Legge's agent takes him, with five other passengers, across to a smaller island. Here, Blake causes a distraction, runs into cover, and when the five men come looking for him, he has the professor and Alf knock them all senseless. Blake holds the agent at gunpoint and leads him into the trap that had been set for him by Peter the Spider. The gang leader steps forward, discovers that he's got the wrong man, and finds himself — along with five more of his thugs — confronted by Blake. When the professor and Alf impetuously pile into the crooks, the resultant confusion gives Peter Brim the opportunity to escape. He flees to a waiting seaplane and is flown away. Blake discovers that Rowland and the real Munt — he was all along aware that the other was an imposter — have been held captive, both kidnapped to draw him into the trap. He liberates them. The millionaire requests that there be no charges against the Spider's cohorts, as the publicity would be unwelcome. The Baker Street man agrees to this with one exception: he delivers John Garth to Detective-Inspector Coutts.

Trivia: This case begins six months after the events of the previous issue.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: When Sir Herbert Frayne purchases a rare green diamond at auction, Sexton Blake agrees to see him safely to his estate, Woodcott Hall, in Buckinghamshire. Over lunch, Sir Herbert reveals that he purchased the stone because a spiritualistic medium named Violet Hoyle had advised him that diamonds and the colour green would protect him from the cancer that runs in his family. Blake immediately connects the name Hoyle with a clue he found some time ago in connection with Peter Brim, the Spider. He arranges to attend one of the woman’s seances. He then secures a job for Tinker as chauffeur to Sir Herbert's doctor. Soon, though, the doctor goes on holiday, and Tinker finds himself driving a stand-in medico named Winterton. Some days later, at the seance, Blake is introduced to Hoyle by her secretary, Carter. The detective witnesses Hoyle summon a spirit, who appears to have knowledge of her guests, and extracts from Sir Herbert the exact manner in which the diamond is kept secure. Blake, however, attributes this to telepathy rather than to any real spiritual phenomena. Upon learning that Carter makes much use of the local taxi service, Blake gains employment with that company, drives Carter from one seedy club to another, and outside one, recognises ex-pugilist Alf White (see previous issue). Carter appears to show interest in the man, which prompts Blake to wonder whether White is being targeted for revenge by the Spider. Indeed, the next night, Carter drugs White and has Blake drive him to the countryside. There, after dismissing the “cabbie,” he leads White into a cottage and departs after releasing a monstrous spider. Blake, however, doubles back and shoots the creature, rescuing White. He delivers the man into the care of Professor Crackstone, now having evidence that Carter is one of Peter Brim’s men. Again disguised, Blake attends the next seance. Under cover of darkness, Carter sneaks from it after first opening a gas cylinder to cause Sir Herbert to fall ill. Blake clears the room, then drives Sir Herbert back to Woodcott Hall, after which he hides to keep watch. A doctor is summoned. Tinker delivers Winterton, who sedates Sir Herbert before declaring that he must remain the night with the patient. From behind curtains, Blake watches as Winterton unlocks the study windows before leaving for Sir Herbert’s bed chamber. Some hours later, Peter the Spider enters via the window, breaks into the safe, but is then pounced on and handcuffed by the detective. Unfortunately, when Blake goes to round up Winterton, Peter Brim contrives to escape.

Trivia: Blake is dismissive of spiritualism but believes in telepathy. The author calls a spider an insect and describes it as having two eyes and tentacles! Brim's escape amounts to unbelievable carelessness on Blake's part.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Story features The Spider.

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Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino. This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 343 as THE WEREWOLF MYSTERY (1939).

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Notes: This story picks up directly where issue 1,211 left off. Sexton Blake, Tinker and Inspector Coutts are in Cornwall staying at an inn while they wait to see whether the body of Dr. Satira will be washed up on the beach after the criminal's boat was wrecked in a massive storm. Unknown to them, Satira has survived. He makes it to land and, after hiding in a cave through the night, falls in with a travelling circus run by Joel Polado, who was once in the Criminals' Confederation. Using his chemical skills, he causes the circus wolf to attack Blake at the inn. The detective shoots it dead. Next day, Blake searches the circus but cannot find Satira, who is hiding in the lion's cage. The villain is desperate to get to Cragg Island, which he now owns and intends to use as his base. He commandeers an aeroplane that the circus uses for parachute displays and is flown out over the island. Satira parachutes onto it with a dwarf named Beppo strapped to his chest. When Blake questions Polado after witnessing the parachute drop, he is told that only Beppo jumped out of the plane. Polado denies all knowledge of Satira. Blake, Tinker and Coutts take a boat out to the island. In the old house upon it, they are trapped by Satira who has been met by three of his henchmen. They escape, leaving the three detectives bound, knee-deep in concrete and with nooses around their necks. Fortunately, Beppo comes to the rescue and the heroes live to resume their pursuit of the master criminal.

Trivia: Parts of the story were rehashed for DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 286 as BAIT FOR DR. SATIRA (1938).

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker are returning from Paris via a night flight when their journey is interrupted by a seemingly mad passenger. This man, an elderly hunchback, brandishes a gun, snatches a fellow passenger's attache case, then throws himself crashing through a window to plunge to his death. In truth, though, the man's hump is a parachute and his elderly features are a disguise; he is none other than Rupert Waldo. The attache case belongs to a diamond merchant and is filled with precious gems. When Waldo lands in darkness, he buries the treasure before exploring the immediate area. To his dismay, he finds that he has landed inside a huge walled enclosure guarded by jackals. When one attacks, he breaks its neck and flings it over the high wall. Meanwhile, Blake has been commissioned to recover the diamonds. His search leads him to the Chase, the walled premises of Sir Rodney Drummond. Here he finds the dead jackal and, piecing the clues together, he realises that he is dealing with Waldo, who must be inside. Unfortunately, Sir Rodney is not inclined to let Blake in. He's taken a liking to Waldo and has allowed the villain to take refuge with him. Sir Rodney has three enemies; Kern, Maitland and Rorke; men who have blackmailed him almost out of his fortune and who now threaten his life. He offers Waldo fifty thousand pounds to get rid of them (stopping short of murder). The Wonder-Man agrees but upon learning that Blake has been sniffing around realises that his arch foe needs to be put off the scent first. To that end, he instructs Lord Rodney to call the police. Sexton Blake, meanwhile, has scaled the wall, discovered the diamonds and driven away to the local police station where he organises a raid on the Chase. Just as he and the police are preparing, a call comes through from Sir Rodney stating that he has captured an intruder. Blake realises that Sir Rodney and Waldo are in collusion and, as he expects, when the police capture the Wonder-Man, he promptly escapes. The detective can at least content himself with the fact that the diamonds are recovered.

Trivia: This story was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 330 as WALDO THE WONDER MAN (1939).

Rating: ★★★★★ Waldo never fails to entertain and Edwy Searles Brookes can always be relied upon to deliver the goods. This is a thoroughly intriguing and enjoyable tale. Incidentally, Blake and Tinker make much use of their Rolls Royce car, the Grey Panther, in this story and its sequels. Earlier in the saga, Blake owned an aeroplane of the same name.

Notes: Continuing where the previous issue left off, this story tells how Waldo the Wonder-Man deals with the first of Sir Rodney Drummond's three blackmailers. Oscar Maitland owns an antique shop ... and Waldo makes his acquaintance by crashing a motorcyle through its window! Sexton Blake, meanwhile, has looked into Sir Rodney's past, discovered that he was blackmailed, and has realised that Waldo is after the culprits. Later, at an auction, Maitland is outbid on an item by Lord Blackwood. Waldo has been tailing the antiques dealer and witnesses his annoyance. That evening, he telephones Blackwood and, imitating Maitland's voice, he makes vague threats. He also calls Maitland himself, this time posing as an American millionaire, and makes an appointment to see him. Maitland, excited at the prospect of a new wealthy client, invites Waldo into his home and is promptly drugged. While he sleeps, Waldo burgles Blackwood's house, stealing the item he won at auction and leaving evidence that suggests Maitland committed the crime. Inspector Lennard of Scotland Yard arrests Maitland despite Blake's scepticism. Waldo, aware that the detective is convinced of Maitland's innocence, decides to get Blake out of the way for a month or so while he completes his mission against the three blackmailers. Breaking into the Baker Street house, he forces Blake and Tinker into his car and drives them to the Chase where they are to be held prisoner. However, the detective persuades Sir Rodney to dispense with Waldo's services and walks free, intending to find proof of Maitland's real crimes. This he does but before his evidence can be used, Maitland, who is out on bail, is poisoned to death by his fellow blackmailer, Simon Kern.

Trivia: This story was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 332 as THE PROFESSIONAL AVENGER (1939).

Rating: ★★★★★ The momentum builds nicely in this second instalment of the tale and the banter between Blake and Waldo is particularly entertaining. These two enemies like and respect one another; it's only their different view of life that keeps them on opposite sides.

Notes: In the third-part of this four-issue story, Waldo the Wonder-Man begins watching the second of the three blackmailers he has vowed to put out of business. This man, Hubert Rorke, is a moneylender and he's currently putting the squeeze on a Mr Douglas Hamilton. Waldo learns this from the victim's daughter, Doris. In order to draw Rorke and his fellow-villain, Kern, out into the open, Waldo impersonates Sir Rodney and gives an interview to the press in which he claims that he's opening up his London home and abandoning his life as a hermit in order to wage war on unscrupulous moneylenders and stockbrokers. The real Sir Rodney is horrified to read this and immediately calls for Sexton Blake's protection. Meanwhile, Rorke has left his office after a hoax call from Waldo. The Wonder-Man takes the opportunity to rob his safe. Upon his return, Rorke finds a 'Mr Buckland' waiting for him. Buckland, who is of course Waldo, claims to be acting on behalf of Mr Hamilton and pays that gentleman's loan off in full ... buying back the mortgage deed on Hamilton's property from Rorke with the money he's just stolen! Later, Waldo visits Blake and tells him what he's done. The detective approves but is concerned when, after Waldo has left, he receives a telegram from Doris Hamilton informing him that her father has disappeared. The old man, who has yet to hear that Waldo has solved his problems, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and has wandered aimlessly away. When Blake arrives, he uses Pedro to track Hamilton's route, which leads to the nearby home of Sir Rodney. There Hamilton is found and, thanks to the detective's medical skills and to the news that his loan has been repaid, he quickly recovers his mental health. Back at Hamilton's home, Waldo has arrived to find everyone gone. Then Rorke turns up determined to get back the mortgage deed by hook or by crook (mostly by crook!). Waldo weights what appears to be the deed (though it isn't really) with a stone and throws it into a slimey pond before leaving. Rorke tries to recover it but starts sinking into the mire. By the time Blake arrives on the scene, the villain has died of fright.

Trivia: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 336 as WALDO'S WONDER STUNT (1939).

Rating: ★★★★★ Another first class tale from the ever-impressive Brooks. In this episode there's the sense that Waldo is considering changing his ways, regretting the fact that he usually operates on the wrong side of the law, but, ultimately his buccaneering spirit wins out. A year before Leslie Charteris created Simon Templar, Brooks was way ahead, giving Waldo all the breezy scampishness of the Saint ... and then some!

Notes: The morning after a night of severe thunderstorms, a mysterious female telephones Sexton Blake and informs him that he might find something interesting at a specific spot on Wimbledon Common. Intrigued, Blake goes there and discovers, in an area overlooked by Simon Kern's house, the burnt remains of a man who has been struck by lightning. Kern is the last survivor of the three blackmailers who Waldo the Wonder-Man has been hunting. However, it appears that he is safe, for evidence found on the charred corpse suggests that the dead man is none other than Rupert Waldo! Detective-Inspector Lennard is called to the scene and, with Blake and Tinker, follows a trail leading from the body to Kern's house. They find the place in disarray; obviously the scene of a fierce fight. According to the housekeeper, Kern is upstairs asleep but when they go up they find his room empty. The gardener informs them that he saw Kern leave ten minutes ago, although he admits that he can't be certain it was his employer he saw. Blake forms the theory that the dead body is, in fact, Kern, while the man seen leaving the house was Waldo — who murdered Kern, diguised the death as a fatality by lightning, then planted evidence of his own identity on the body. The detective and his assistant return to Baker Street only to find Waldo sitting comfortably in their consulting room! He tells them the real story: the body was that of a by-passer who was genuinely struck down by the storm. Waldo took advantage of the situation by planting evidence to make it look like he and Kern had confronted one another with the argument culminating in Waldo's death. The plan, he hoped, would lead to Kern being hanged for murder. Now, though, the blackmailer is on the run. When Waldo reveals that Sir Rodney Drummond has gone abroad, Blake surmises that Kern has probably taken refuge in The Chase, Sir Rodney's fortified country house. He and Waldo decide to join forces in order to force Kern to confess his crimes. At The Chase, they take on roles as the ghosts of the blackmailer's former colleagues, Maitland and Rorke, terrifying him into the admission that he poisoned Maitland. In consequence, Lennard makes an arrest and Waldo's mission is completed. Having enjoyed himself so much, Rupert Waldo now starts wondering whether life might be better on the right side of the law.

Trivia: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 340 as SIMON KERN PAYS IN FULL (1939)

Rating: ★★★★☆ A nice climax to an excellent sequence of adventures but one that suffers slightly in comparison to its forerunners; the denoument feels slightly too hurried. Nevertheless, the initial mystery — is Waldo dead? — works wonderfully ... and his growing conviction that, just perhaps, it's time to be less of a villain and more of a hero is both touching and intriguing.

Notes: None at present.

Unrated

Notes: In China, Sir Gordon Sadler urges Sexton Blake to travel to Hankow and find a way to prevent Prince Wu Ling from using the upcoming eclipse to unite anti-British sentiment. Blake, however, has been spotted in Shanghai by a young woman named Nin-yang-lee, who reports his presence to the prince. Wu Ling orders her to keep watch on his old enemy. Blake enlists the assistance of a river pirate named Chen-to. With this ally, he and Tinker are able to travel in a sampan along the Yangtse to make contact with the pirate chief, Kan-tse-wen. This meeting occurs in the midst of a brutal pirate raid. Kan-tse-wen warns the detective that his presence in the region has been made known to Wu Ling, and that a girl spy is on his trail. He instructs Blake to remain with him on his steamer. Even this proves unsafe, however, when a venomous yellow beetle is flung through a porthole at Blake. Fortunately, Tinker’s fast response saves his guv’nor from instantaneous death. The journey upriver, to the pirate town of Nansha, continues, with Blake on the steamer and Tinker with the flotilla of pirates. Upon reaching their destination, Blake finally gets to speak with Kan-tse-wen again, and learns that Tinker has been kidnapped. The pirate chief also reveals that Wu Ling and his retinue are travelling on the river and that Tinker has been taken to the prince. Blake asks Kan-tse-wen to supply him with one or two yellow beetles. The request is granted. Blake divulges the true purpose of his mission. Kan-tse-wen responds by revealing his identity: he is Blake’s trusted friend Hong-Lo-Soo’s brother. He wants to know who Hsui-fsi really is. Blake tells him: Hsui-fi is Sir Gordon Sadler. Kan-tse-wen pledges his allegiance. The detective tells him a startling fact: the ancient Chinese astronomers made a mistake when they predicted the eclipse. It is not due this year, but next. This must remain hidden from Wu Ling. Blake therefore intends, after rescuing Tinker, to travel to the Temple of Many Visions, where the astronomical documents are stored. Kan-tse-wen takes him along the river in a motor-boat. Blake then transfers to a sampan steered by Chen-to. Under cover of darkness, they pull alongside Wu Ling’s barge and Blake sneaks aboard. Using the yellow beetle, he threatens the life of the prince’s six-year-old son until Tinker is brought forth. He then forces from Wu Ling a vow to let them both go free and a guarantee of safety in Hankow. They depart, and as they do, Nin-yang-lee’s dead body is thrown into the river beside them.

Trivia: Sexton Blake has a small blue crescent tattooed in his left armpit. It is the sign of the Four Lakes Tong.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Sexton Blake requires proof that ancient Chinese astrologers made a mistake when they predicted an eclipse that, according to them, is imminent. If they were in error, then Prince Wu Ling—who intends to use the event to whip up a nationalistic fervour among the country’s superstitious peasants—will be humiliated. Conversely, if the prediction holds true, British interests in China will be severely endangered. Proof, one way or the other, lies in the Temple of Many Visions, on an island in a lake. Blake and Tinker arrive at its shore and, after intercepting three of Wu Ling’s agents, they gain the means to enter the temple. There, a monk meets them and conducts them to a cell, where they are virtually imprisoned for two days until, finally, Blake is given an audience with the ancient prior, the high priest, and the sub-prior, the second authority in the temple. They easily see through his disguise and he is returned to his cell to await his fate. The next day, he and Tinker are escorted to a room that resembles an alchemist’s laboratory, library and planetarium. The sub-prior greets them by name, in English, before then describing to them every detail of their mission so far in China. He shows them an ages-old technology, an alternate and much more advanced form of television (currently in the early stages of development in Europe) displaying scenes from along the Yangtse River. The picture then zooms in on Wu Ling, who is meeting with various generals. The demonstration ends and Blake and Tinker are returned to their cell. Another day passes, then without further ado, they are ejected from the temple. However, they are also handed a slip of paper on which the confirmation they’d come for is written: the eclipse is not due for a year! Unknown to them both, Wu Ling has already learned this fact from American astronomers and is now trying to suppress the propaganda he’d initiated. The detectives trek to the river and travel down it, hunted all the way. They are set upon by a mob but, after a thrilling chase, manage to steal a motorboat and get clear of the nationalist forces. They reunite with Sir Gordon Sadler. The next day, when the eclipse fails to manifest, Wu Ling vows to kill Blake.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Prince Wu Ling treks to the island of Samsi in a remote region of China, where an earthquake has made accessible a previously cut off area of marshland. Here, it is rumoured, prehistoric animals still roam, possibly fulfilling a Buddhist prophecy that a Yellow Dragon will arise to sweep China’s enemies away. Sir Gordon Sadler aka Hsui-Fsi wants Sexton Blake to investigate but the detective, eager to get home after a long stay in China, refuses. Then, however, Tinker is captured and taken to Samsi. Wu Ling vows to sacrifice him to the dragon. Blake follows and arrives in time to see his assistant tied to a stake in the middle of the marsh, with Wu Ling and his men watching from a distance. A dinosaur heaves itself up out of the mud. With a rifle, Blake shoots it through the eye. While the onlookers are distracted by its death throes, Blake unties Tinker and they flee, stopping only long enough for the detective to shoot at the Prince. Wu Ling topples backward. Blake and Tinker make their escape.

Trivia: There is a direct reference to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's THE LOST WORLD.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake masquerades as a Chinaman named Kan-pi-wu, the new proprietor of a gambling and opium den known as the House of Wooden Lanterns. Here, he spies on a meeting of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Beetle and learns that two agents are to be sent to Hong Kong to foment unrest. Blake informs Hsui-fsi aka Sir Gordon Saddler of this, and the latter passes the information on to the British governor, who has the two agents captured and arrested. Blake's next target is a Russian agent named Borovkin, whom he captures. At the Brotherhood's next meeting, Prince Wu Ling notes that the Russian has gone missing and, knowing that the man had last been seen at the House of Wooden Lanterns, he summons Kan-pi-wu to a private audience. Aware that his cover will soon be blown, Blake takes the opportunity to hold Wu Ling at gun-point, leads him into one of the building's many secret passages, and has him bound and gagged by Tinker. Donning the prince's clothes, the detective is then escorted by guards to Wu Ling's palace, where he has Chen, leader of the Nationalist forces, brought before him. He orders the man to withdraw his troops from Shanghai. After rendering Wiu Ling's servant, San, helpless, Blake, still in the guise of the prince, returns to the House of Wooden Lanterns. From there, he and Tinker, with their two prisoners, are taken to safety by Hsui-fi. Days later, in return for their lives and freedom, Wu Ling and Borovkin are forced to sign orders that bring the Chinese rebellion to an end.

Trivia: It is explained that the shot fired by Blake at Wu Ling at the end of the previous issue had and been deflected by a jewel that hung from the Chinaman’s neck.

Blake speaks many Chinese dialects fluidly and is fully informed on Chinese customs, history, the arts, habits, religions, and the philosophy of Confucius.

Blake uses injections of paraffin wax to alter the shape of his face, and a dye made from soya beans to turn his eyes brown.

Sir Gordon Sadler is eighty-eight years old.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Sexton Blake is summoned to prison where a dying inmate, with his last breath, gives him a clue with regard to an insidious force in the criminal underworld — The Black Trinity — whose existence Blake has suspected for a couple of years. The clue is the name 'Clement Ellwood'. On his way home, Blake is followed. He confronts his shadow who signals to a confederate. This second man, in a car, attempts to run Blake down but the detective leaps out of the way and, unknown to the driver, hitches a ride in the vehicle. When he announces his presence, the driver takes him to a house on the eastern outskirts of London and here he is introduced to a man named Mr Cable. Cable is frank in his admission that Blake's assassination has been ordered by the Black Trinity but doesn't appreciate the detective's cleverness; Blake escapes and makes his way back to Baker Street. There he learns that the two other witnesses who overheard the prisoner's last words have been murdered. Some weeks later, while a guest at a country manor, he is approached by a big game hunter named Bill Rokeby who wishes to consult him about the death of his best friend, Harrison Arlen. Arlen was supposedly killed by accident while cleaning his shotgun but Rokeby disagrees with this verdict and believes his friend was murdered. The man he suspects, who Blake then meets at the manor, is Clement Ellwood. His alibi is that he was with a friend but, thanks to Tinker's ingenuity, Blake is able to disprove this with help from Felix Scudamore, a bookmaker. Helping the detective is Scudmore's downfall: a member of The Sillox Gang is dispatched to kill him. When this man warns him instead, a second man kills Scudamore and the first assassin. Blake, with Pedro, tracks the murderer to a train station. His quarry leaps aboard a goods train but Blake follows and captures him. Next, he interviews Clement Ellwood who eventually objects to his line of questioning and throws him out. Blake, though, plays the old trick of slamming the outer door while remaining on the inside. He thus overhears Ellwood telephoning his friend to arrange further details of his false alibi. After this, it is fairly easy for the detective to reconstruct Ellwood's movements on the night of Arlen's murder. Next, he and Tinker investigate Arlen's abandoned house, where Blake reveals to his assistant that Ellwood had been in love with Arlen's wife — this being his motive for murder. Ellwood appears, accompanied by many armed men who keep the detective and his assistant covered. However, Blake has planned ahead: Rokeby and a number of men appear and hold the crooks at gunpoint. Ellwood goes for his pistol and is shot dead. Thus the case of Arlen's murder is solved ... but The Black Trinity remains a mystery.

Trivia: There is a garage behind Blake's Baker Street house.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: The first part of this tale is recounted by Zenith the Albino who is summoned to Smith's Kitchen by members of The League of the Cobbler's Last. They remonstrate with him for treating them like dogs. Their spokesman, Baxter, offers to fight Zenith in a boxing ring. This is duly arranged and Zenith wins — but only just. Afterwards, Baxter reveals that the mens' discontent was due to the fact that The Sillox Gang had been trying to recruit them. He also informs Zenith that The Black Trinity is behind the gang and that the 'Nameless Three' are, in fact, in Smith's this very night. He leads the Albino to a private room and Zenith enters, finding inside five men. Three are masked. The fourth, unconscious, is Sexton Blake, a prisoner of the Trinity. The fifth is the man who captured him, a common 'tough'. Except that Zenith, after introducing himself and withdrawing from the room, recognises that the detective, with cleverly applied make-up, has exchanged positions with the man sent to capture him! Blake had achieved this with the help of Julia Fortune who is masquerading as a hoodlum named Bill Jenkins. She is on a mission for the Secret Service to trap a man who betrayed H. M Foreign Office by selling a document to the Trinity. With her help, Blake exchanged identities with his supposed captor and entered Smith's Kitchen where he presented his prisoner to the Nameless Three. Now, knowing that Zenith has seen through his trick, he suspects that the Trinity might too. So when the mysterious trio retires to an inner chamber to discuss the situation, he quickly exchanges identities again. The Sillox Gang rush into the room and bundle away the wrong man, allowing Blake to make a fast getaway, though not before he hears that one of the three is catching a train to Aylesbury on the following Monday. On that day, Blake is at the station where he narrowly avoids another attempt on his life. The 'hit man' is captured but killed by a second agent of the Trinity, who then escapes. However, unknown to him, Blake, Tinker and Detective-Inspector Coutts are on his tail. As his car speeds through the countryside, he leaps from it. Blake, in turn, disembarks to follow him and is led to a farmhouse. Here, through trickery, he is captured, bound to a chair and sentenced to death. When Tinker and Coutts make a rescue attempt, they are also captured. Leaving its gas taps in the open position, The Black Trinity and Sillox Gang depart the farmhouse, with the three captives left bound inside. Moments before they suffocate, succour arrives in the shape of Julia Fortune who, as Bill Jenkins, had been accepted into the Gang. Coutts and Miss Fortune vow to join Blake in his future battles with the Nameless Three.

Trivia: Julia Fortune keeps a framed photograph of Sexton Blake on her dressing table. Sexton Blake says of Tinker that "he is one of the best shadows in the world."

Rating: ★★★★☇

Notes: Actress Mademoiselle Celestine Dubosque owes her success to a mysterious individual named Schwartzo, who has sponsored her career in return for her occasionally acting as his spy. Schwartzo, one of The Black Trinity, has rigged the markets in order to cause Sexton Blake some financial embarrasment, and he now uses Celestine to bring about the detective's downfall. She approaches Blake and asks him to help her stop her brother committing a crime. Blake agrees and follows her to a fur warehouse which he finds has already been broken into. Having been too late to stop her brother (who doesn't actually exist), Celestine extracts a promise from the detective that he will leave it for others to report the theft of the furs. The next day, Detective-Inspector Coutts visits Baker Street and informs Blake that he is suspected of the robbery. With circumstantial evidence — including money deposited into his bank account — weighing against him, Blake realises that he is being framed. Coutts believes him and vows to stand by his side, despite the fact that others at Scotland Yard — in particular a detective named Forsyth — are beginning to think that Blake has been leading a double life. Tinker discovers a photograph taken at the bank when the money was deposited. Although the individual who placed the money in Blake's account cannot be seen, a snake-shaped ring on his finger can. This is Blake's first clue. He receives a note from Julia Fortune asking him to meet her to receive further proofs of the conspiracy against him. However, Blake realises that the note has been intercepted by the Trinity. He and Tinker race in the Grey Panther to get to Miss Fortune before the villains but they suffer an accident. Blake waves down another car and finds himself face to face with a man wearing the snake ring — Schwartzo! The criminal races ahead and Blake follows, catching up with his foe at a house just as Schwartzo, who has Miss Fortune captive, attempts to execute her in an electric chair. After a pitched battle, Schwartzo dies in fitting style, and Julia Fortune hands Blake the villain's detailed plans for framing him. These discredit Forsythe and reveal that Schwartzo, though the spokesman for the Black Trinity, was not its leader.

Trivia: A character in this story mentions both the Sexton Blake bust and the UNION JACK.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Crooked financier James Harrowgate fails to turn up for his trial and is later found murdered. Sexton Blake, Detective-Inspector Coutts and Detective-Inspector Harker discover that the victim was in the midst of changing his identity, presumably to escape someone. Blake approaches one of the men who posted Harrowgate's bail and recognises his butler as an ex-associate of The Black Trinity. Next morning, Coutts announces a second and very similar murder. The victim turns out to be the butler. Blake investigates the man who had filed the charges against Harrowgate: Leslie Whittingworth. Later, when a man attempts to assassinate Blake, he is caught and arrested but Blake allows his female accomplice to escape, setting Tinker on her trail. She is shadowed to a house which Blake feels certain is the headquarters of the last remaining member of The Black Trinity. That night, he breaks into the house but falls into a trap and is captured and left to die with a pad soaked with chloroform over his mouth. However, approaching the problem of The Black Trinity from another angle, Julia Fortune has also been led to the house, and, through a window, she knocks the pad from his face. She then distracts his captors by calling at the front door. Let in, she meets the owner; a young man whom she recognises as a disguised woman, a Russian named Lydia. This is the head of the Trinity. In Julia's presence, the woman summons her gang, among whom is Whittingworth. She orders the body of Sexton Blake to be brought before them — but when he arrives he is very much alive and wielding two pistols. He informs them that the police are on the way. Lydia pulls a lever to flood the room with gas. Appalled at this, Whittingworth shoots his leader through the head. He, in turn, is shot in the arm by Blake, who knows that Whittingworth was responsible for the murders of Harrowgate and the butler. The detective then reveals that he has sabotaged the gas valves, preventing them from functioning. The police swoop and round up the gang. It's the end of The Black Trinity!

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: None at present.

Unrated

Notes: When cracksman Lefty Macguire is released from prison, he is approached by representatives of The Double Four who want to recruit him to the organisation's outer circle. However, when he has a private interview with the Ace — leader of the gang — he accidentally exposes that man's masked face and is murdered in order to keep the Ace's identity secret. Two months later, Sexton Blake and Derek 'Splash' Page are attending a society event at which King Karl of Serbovia is present. When the lights go out and the King is shot, the Double Four's calling card is found beneath his body. According to Dr. Gaston Lenoir, present at the gathering, the bullet has only grazed the king's skull and he will be fine. But Blake is puzzled. Where is the bullet? And why did the lights go out if it was an attempted assassination? The answer to the latter question comes when the hostess discovers that her precious emeralds have been stolen. No lead emerges until later that night, when an informer suggests to Page that the Ace is responsible. Page takes this information to Sexton Blake, along with the suggestion that a crooked financier named Simon Yorke may be involved. Meanwhile, King Karl, now recovered, is informed by his Grand Chamberlain that a revolution is brewing in Serbovia. He refuses to return to his country. Simon Yorke, after being questioned by Blake, attends a meeting of the Double Four. While he is there, Blake breaks into his office and finds evidence that he is a member of the group. The detective takes the evidence to Detective-Inspector Coutts and they come up with a plan. Tinker, looking after business in Blake's absence, receives a visit from a young lady — in reality Lou Tarrant, the Double Four's talented female impersonator — who asks him to investigate her flat, which is supposedly haunted. He goes there with Splash Page and they witness a terrifying apparition ... not knowing that this has been prepared by Scarlatti, the Double Four's conjurer and illusionist. In the house opposite, which belongs to Dr Lenoir, the eight criminals — Lenoir being one of them — are monitoring events, waiting for Sexton Blake to turn up and fall into their trap. However, the tables are turned on them when the man they thought was Simon Yorke reveals himself to be the disguised detective, who announces that the real Yorke is in police custody. The Ace responds by pulling a lever which sends Blake plummeting through a trap door, firing his pistol as he falls. The shot his heard by Tinker and Page and they run across the road to Lenoir's house, forcing their way in. They manage to rescue Blake but not before the Double Four escapes through one of the house's many secret passages. The detective reveals that he has recovered the emeralds ... and that the Ace is, in reality, King Karl!

Trivia: Tinker is said to be eighteen-years-old. The story — and the subsequent two sequels — formed the basis of a non-Blake tale entitled SIGN OF THE DOUBLE FOUR that appeared in THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY 2nd series issue 714 (1940).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Sexton Blake is visited by a young woman named Elizabeth Beverley whose betrothed has gone missing. Richard Dann is a young inventor who has created a typewriter that automatically types whatever a person dictates. He had arranged to demonstrate the device in front of three typewriter manufacturers but then vanished, sending the girl a note to say he will return in due course. The note is patently a forgery. Blake visits Dann's workshop and finds the safe open, empty and bloodstained. In the fireplace are the charred fragments of burnt papers. Back in his Baker Street laboratory, the detective tests the blood. He also identifies handwriting on the charred paper as that of 'Frisco Fred, a well-known forger. With help from Detective-Inspector Coutts, Blake traces Fred to a nightclub. He and Tinker attend the club in the guise of a couple of wealthy Americans and fall in with Fred, who tries to con them out of a fortune. The crook takes them to a house for some private gambling but the detective and his assistant soon find themselves locked in a room. They escape into the now empty house, investigate, and discover Richard Dann tied and bound in the cellar. The young man explains that he was kidnapped and that the crooks believe they have possession of his invention when, in fact, they have nothing but a dud. Sexton Blake attends the demonstration of the dictation machine. The typewriter manufacturers are astounded to find that the device works. Dann demands five hundred thousand pounds for the secret. Blake, though, suddenly reveals that the whole game is a scam and that the Double Four are behind it! Dann is 'Gold Brick Dann' — a well-known con man — and Miss Beverly is his wife! Blake and Tinker tackle the criminal but other members of the gang appear and a huge fight breaks out. Doctor Lenoir, one of the foremost members of the Four, is captured, as are Dann and his wife. As Splash Page later opines, it is a massive defeat for the Double Four!

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: In Handforth Gaol, Philip Carew, one time attache to Serbovia, is to be executed for the murder — three months ago — of a crook named Hugo Channing. However, when he is taken to the gallows, a dead body is found hanged there. It is Channing, his corpse still warm. A note declares that his presence will prevent a miscarriage of justice. It is signed by the Double Four. At Baker Street, Splash Page reports the event to Sexton Blake. They hurry to the gaol to investigate and Blake identifies how the Double Four performed the trick. During his investigation, a blind man — actually Scarlatti — prods Blake with a walking stick, injecting poison. Blake dies. The next morning, the newspapers announce his demise. In Serbovia, Ruff Hansen — there to investigate the source of illegal shipments of alcohol to America — saves King Karl from an assassin's bullet. Karl invites him to dine later that evening. In the meantime, the king approaches Princess Sonia Petrova, and declares that he has done as promised by proving the innocence of the man she loves, Philip Carew, who has received a full pardon. In return, the princess must carry out her part of their agreement and marry Karl. Despairingly, she agrees. Elsewhere, Hansen is approached by a couple of Frenchmen who turn out to be a heavily disguised Sexton Blake and Tinker. The detective explains how his assistant saved him from death before then asking Hansen to help him break the Double Four. The American agrees. That night, he meets with King Karl and is recruited into the criminal gang.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: The betrothal of King Karl II to Princess Sonia Petrova is announced and wedding preparations begin. Splash Page uses the occasion as an excuse to travel to Serbovia. In that country, a group of revolutionaries are meeting. They include Serge Droski, Sarnoff, Kariloff, a woman known as Red Rosa, and — newly introduced to them — a Frenchman, Jules Bontemps. The gathering is interrupted by the arrival of another rebel, Levinski, who brings evidence that Kariloff is actually Captain Cray a British agent. A fight erupts and the meeting house catches fire. Everyone flees leaving the injured Cray to burn but Bontempts plunges back into the inferno and pulls him to safety before introducing himself as No. 13 of the Secret Service — Sexton Blake! Cray dies from his injuries. Ruff Hanson meets with Blake and Page to discuss the fact that Tinker and Detective-Inspector Coutts are attending the detective's fake funeral in London, that Serbovia is on the brink of revolution, and that Hanson has infiltrated the Double Four. Unfortunately, this conversation is overheard by Colonel Tiny Tony, who reports it to King Karl. When Hanson later realises that they've been rumbled, he attempts to intercept Blake before the detective meets again with the revolutionaries but Lou Tarrant, disguised as Red Rosa, has already captured the criminologist. Hanson seeks out Sarnoff instead and is recruited into the band of rebels. In Orlov Castle, home of the monarchy and base for the Double Four, Blake is taken to the medieval torture chamber and placed in an iron maiden. That evening, the Eastern Army mutinies and the revolution begins. Hanson, Page and Sarnoff join an attack on the castle. The gendarmerie puts up resistance and Sarnoff is among the fallen. In the dungeon, the iron maiden's rusted spikes have crumbled harmlessly against Blake's flesh. The rebel bombardment has wrecked part of the chamber, freed him from the torture device, and killed Carfax Crewe. Tiny Tony has also been fatally injured, and with his dying breath informs Blake that "Karl is not really the—" Blake races to the drawbridge and lowers it to allow the rebels entry. He then captures Karl and Samson. The rebels' coup d'etat is complete and Ruff Hanson is declared the president of the new republic!

Trivia: A chapter of the story is recounted in first person by Ruff Hanson.

This issue's cover features Eric Parker's seminal portrait of Sexton Blake.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: This story was inspired by an eclipse that took place over Northern England and Wales this year. It features Ruff Hanson and Splash Page.

Unrated

Notes: All England — and especially Detective-Inspector Coutts — is astounded by the reports sent from Serbovia by Splash Page. The country is in the throes of a revolution led by its newly elected republican president, Ruff Hanson. Sexton Blake is on his way back to London with King Karl II as his prisoner — now exposed as Ace, leader of the Double Four — along with the crook's cohorts, Lou Tarrant and Samson. Coutts had wanted to be "in at the kill" but his presence was required in the capital, as one member of the gang, Scarlatti, is still on the loose. A lead comes in the form of a murder, the killer having placed a double four domino on the victim, a young inventor named Harold Ivory who has created an invisibility beam. Blake returns to a huge public reception. He hands his prisoners over to Scotland Yard. Soon after, with Scarlatti's assistance, they escape. Scarlatti displays the blueprints he stole from Ivory, and the Double Four begins to plan its next big coup. A week goes by, then Blake is visited by Mr Bunridge, the manager of a large department store. The Double Four has threatened to ruin his business and kill him unless he hands over £20,000. In the man's name, Blake places a small ad in the newspaper acceding to the demand and requesting further instructions. He then receives a telegram from Hanson, who, having resigned as president of Serbovia, is on his way to London to help hunt the Ace. Elsewhere, a police informer reveals that Samson is with a crook known as the Clincher who owns an all-night cafe. Blake joins a police raid on the premises and Samson is captured. Hanson arrives and Bunridge receives a reply to the ad — he is to place the money in a leather valise and leave it next to a newspaper stand at Piccadilly. Blake, Tinker, Coutts, Page, Hanson and the police stake out the rendezvous point and, when a flower seller switches Bunridge's valise for another, Blake swoops, exposes her as the female-impersonator, Lou Tarrant, and makes the arrest. The following day, the offices of the Daily Radio receive a letter from the Double Four in which it is stated that, on the following Monday, the gang will declare war on London unless all its members are given amnesty and a pardon. If this demand is not met, the Double Four will steal the British Museum. Blake muses that his battle with the gang is about to enter its final round.

Trivia: We are informed that, in his boyhood, Derek Page was a homeless orphan who sold newspapers in a Stepney slum.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: In the basement at Sexton Blake’s residence, Mrs Bardell is alerts her sister, Mary Ann Cluppins, to the fact that tomorrow sees the commencement of a great sale at Bunridge’s, the famous Oxford Street store. Upstairs, Blake is discussing the daring escape of King Karl II aka The Ace, leader of The Double Four (see The Mystery of the Ivory Beam, UNION JACK issue 1,238) with Detective-Inspector Coutts, Ruff Hanson and Splash Page. Ace has demanded an amnesty for his gang members. If it is not forthcoming, he will declare war on London, the commencement of which will be announced by the theft of the British Museum. A call comes through to Baker Street: Samson has escaped from prison. Meanwhile, in a room located across the street from Bunridge’s, Ace and Scarlatti recruit Schwartz aka Elmo the Electric Eel into their gang, tempting him with their stolen Ivory Invisibility Beam. Samson arrives and the villains get to work. The following morning, Mrs. Bardell and her sister arrive at Bunridge’s and witness the entire store vanishing before their eyes. Blake, Tinker and Hanson arrive on the scene and enter the invisible building. Inside, they find Solon Bunridge stabbed to death. The Double Four issues a statement: this demonstration is just a taste of their power. If an amnesty isn’t granted, they will next plunder the museum. When Bunridge’s becomes visible again, Blake realises that the Ivory Beam machine has been moved and is probably now in the vicinity of the museum. The Ace captures Tinker and straps him into an electric chair. He sends a message to the detective: if the amnesty isn’t confirmed, the youngster will be killed and his corpse dissolved in a vat of acid. Blake, Hanson and Coutts enter the museum and tackle Samson. Hanson shoots the crook dead. They then locate Schwartz and Scarlatti and corner them. The villains set a bomb to kill their pursuers but when it goes off they are caught in the blast and killed. Blake has The BBC announce the death of three of the Double Four. The Ace hears this message and his sanity cracks. He prepares to electrocute Tinker but, when Blake bursts into the room, he himself topples into the vat and is killed.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ The New Order era of Blake (1956 onward) is where elements of science fiction are usually expected but, in fact, they were present in quite a few Golden Era yarns as well. Here we have an invisibility ray and a man who can generate electricity in his own body!

Notes: Newspaper editor Charles Matthews receives a letter from May Cubitt in which she claims to be a friend of the person to whom he has referred. He has no idea what it means, and before he can investigate, his office is invaded by a small Japanese man, who says the name “May Cubitt.” This individual pulls a knife on a second arrival—Oyani, lieutenant to Zenith the Albino—only to have his arm broken before being hauled away. The next morning, Sexton Blake is told about both incidents. He identifies a personal ad to which the Cubitt letter alludes and perceives that it is addressed not to “the Editor,” but to “Mr. Edinger.” In addition, he traces an address in connection with it. There, he meets May Cubitt, who informs him that the friend in question is named Margaret Oakley. She moved away some time ago, and her whereabouts are currently unknown. The detective learns that Charles Matthews’ father was recently killed while unsuccessfully defending a Chinese mandarin during the looting of Nanking. The mandarin’s Japanese servant escaped the assassination with a quantity of jewels. Blake surmises that this was the man who visited the editor before being removed by Oyani, and that the jewels were a reward intended for Matthews. He traces Oyani to a remote location where he and Tinker battle with a leopard before confronting Zenith. The Japanese servant has committed hara-kiri and the albino now has the gemstones. The detectives are overwhelmed by Zenith’s men, among them Oklahoma Sam and Three a.m. Smith, and are locked inside the hull of a wrecked ship. When the tide rises, they will drown. After a daring escape, they are aided by a fisherman, before then intercepting Zenith as he is leaving the island. Blake and the albino engage in a tremendous fist fight, but the crook makes a getaway, leaving the jewels behind. The criminologist delivers them to Matthews, explains the coincidental connection with Margaret Oakley and Mr. Edinger, and has the fisherman presented as a witness to Detective-Inspector Coutts. The fisherman, however, turns out to be Zenith in disguise. Blake, aware of this all along, prevents the crook from a final attempt at the jewels, but fails to prevent him from fleeing the scene.

Trivia: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 334 as THE AGONY AD MYSTERY (1939).

★★☆☆☆ One of the lesser Zenith yarns, this suffers from an uninspired and somewhat confusing plot, a dearth of Zenith scenes, and the over-used and unbelievable disguise motif.

Notes: None at present.

Unrated

Notes: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 373 as THE MAN WHO MADE GOLD (1940).

Unrated

Notes: None at present.

Unrated

Notes: None at present.

Unrated

Notes: The main story was reprinted under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 3rd series issue 10 (1941).

Unrated

Notes: The Chief Commissioner of Police, Sir Henry Fairfax, visits Sexton Blake to discuss the still-at-large Dr Satira. When he leaves, he is kidnapped by the criminal in question. Meanwhile, Blake and Tinker investigate a murder at Madam Boutard's Waxworks which is being rebuilt after a great fire (since it is just around the corner from Baker Street, it is obviously Madame Tussaud's, which was gutted by fire in 1925). The detective realises that someone has entered the country illegally by posing as a waxwork dummy delivered from France ... and that person is Satira. Together with Detective-Inspector Coutts, Blake tracks down the captain of the cargo ship that brought the dummy across the Channel. They learn that Satira had intercepted the ship and gone aboard, paying the captain a considerable sum to transport him. The Captain is taken into custody but as Coutts leads him away from the docks a poison dart hits his prisoner who collapses, dead. Sexton Blake and Tinker return to Baker Street where they narrowly escape death when Satira bombs their sitting room. The next morning, they are called to Scotland Yard where they learn that Sir Henry has gone missing. Dr Satira issues an ultimatum — the police must hand over the Jewelled Ape of Khurdan to secure Sir Henry's freedom, else he will be killed within 24 hours. Blake puts a counterplan into action: that evening, at his behest, the papers announce that the idol has been stolen. In diguise, the detective takes it to a fence named Jerry Drymer and word soon reaches Satira, who offers to purchase it. Blake is taken to the villain's headquarters and is followed by a number of Yard men who mount a raid. Satira is finally captured.

Trivia: In a welcome extra feature, Mrs Bardell describes the explosion in the Consulting Room. Parts of the main story were rehashed for DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 286 as BAIT FOR DR. SATIRA (1938).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Three men — Jacob Jamson (real name Bamberger), Julius Crimp and Huckaback J. Baltimore — run the Nautilus Petrolium Syndicate but the source of their oil supply is a mystery. When Captain Bilbery of their ship, the Goldfish, is murdered, Sexton Blake is hired by a government minister to investigate. The man taken on to replace Bilbery is named Captain Christmas. He once came to the aid of Blake in Port Said, so Blake now returns the favour be warning him to be wary of his employers. Blake and Tinker, both heavily disguised, then sign on as crew, with Christmas unaware of their true identity. The Syndicate trio also come aboard as crew (the ship has no passenger licence) though they have no intention of working. The vessel sets sail for an undisclosed destination. En route, Christmas has run-ins with almost everyone aboard, especially with Tamworth, the first mate, and is soon out of favour with the Syndicate. When they attempt to murder him by throwing him overboard, he retaliates by forcing the Syndicate to work as deckhands. Pretty soon, a mutiny is brewing and the crew fool Tinker into thinking it is planned for three days hence. In fact, it happens immediately and Blake & Co. are caught off guard. Forced at gunpoint to cease their meddling, they continue as deckhands until the vessel reaches the Persian gulf. There, they escape and swim ashore where they find that the Syndicate has tapped a British oil pipe. The ship's crew catch up with them and a massive fight erupts. The three escapees are knocked unconscious. The villainous sailors limp back to the Goldfish and report to Tamworth. He sends a man to shoot Blake, Tinker and Christmas dead. The sailor does so when he sees them on a sand dune, outlined against the night sky. However, unknown to him, his victims are, in fact, three of his own crewmates. Blake and his companions take a boat and sail for Port Said. When the Goldfish arrives there, they sign aboard, so heavily disguised that they aren't recognised. The vessel continues its journey to London where it's met by Detective-Inspector Coutts. Blake had sent a wire ahead and now the villains are rounded up and arrested.

Trivia: The story is followed by MRS. BARDELL SAYS— in which that worthy old soul gives to her sister, Mary Ann Cluppins, a hilarious account of Sexton Blake's return from the 'Persian Golf'. Wonderful stuff!

This story was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 327 as OIL PIRATES (1939).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: It is the day of Dr. Satira's trial and it begins with posters mysteriously appearing all over London warning that everyone concerned with proceedings against the criminal will be hung by the neck. The first victim, discovered by Sexton Blake and Detective-Inspector Coutts, is the prosecuting lawyer, Sir Kirby Cannon K.C. who is found swinging from the rafters of his own bed chamber. The Judge, Mr Justice Carrogate, is next, garrotted in his car. Sir Henry Fairfax voices concern over how this will affect the reputation of Scotland Yard but the murders soon become the least of his problems when a great many fire engines suddenly arrive at the court causing huge confusion amidst which Satira is broken out of his prison van and driven away. Left in the van is the dead body of Jerry Drymer, the fence who was the main witness for the prosecution. Sexton Blake & Co. race after the departing villain but lose track of him — Dr. Satira has escaped! When the detective and his assistant eventually return to Baker Street, they find Satira waiting for them. Bound hand and foot, they are left in the consulting room with a can of petrol next to the fire heating up to the point where it will explode. Blake burns the cords from his wrists and moves the petrol away from the heat before freeing Tinker. They chase after the master-criminal but he escapes into the sewers.

Trivia: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 292 as WARNING FROM DR. SATIRA (1938).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: With a massive manhunt underway, Doctor Satira is in desperate need of a refuge. While laying low in the British Museum he is spotted by Detective-Sergeant McKyne. Satira attacks the policeman, knocks him unconscious and hides him in a mummy case. The villain, aided by members of his gang, then invades the house of a hermit, Matthew Marl. Some days later, a man named Thomas Phillips visits Sexton Blake and tells him that, ten years ago, his uncle mysteriously vanished. Recently, he returned out of the blue. This man, Lee Jenner, then went out leaving Phillips with a note to be opened should he fail to return. When it seemed that Jenners had vanished once again, Phillips opened the note. It informed him that his uncle had gone to Marl House and that Sexton Blake should be consulted. The note was signed 'Lee Jenners alias Golden Jack Bowers.' Blake recognises the alias as the name of a bank robber who had recently been released from prison after serving a ten-year sentence. The detective theorises that Matthew Marl had been Bowers' accomplice in the robbery and had got away with £40,000. Bower is now after his share of the loot. The Phillips and Satira cases come together when a clue at the museum suggests that Satira may be using Marl House as his hideaway. Blake and Detective-Inspector Coutts go there but can't get past the huge walls and heavy gate. They settle to watch the house from a building opposite, not realising that this belongs to one of Satira's gang. Meanwhile, the doctor opens Marl's safe and finds Jenners' dead body inside. He also, after a search, discovers the proceeds of the bank robbery and a secret passage leading underground to a nearby vacant house. When he telephones the overlooking premises and is answered by Blake, he realises that he must make an immediate getaway. Blake and Coutts lead a police raid on Marl House but, by the time they enter, Satira has killed Marl and escaped along the secret passage, £40,000 the richer.

Trivia: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 296 as THE MISER OF MARL HOUSE (1938).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Dr. Satira invades the home of a blackmailer named Eustace Sylvester, kills him, and gains access to documents that were being used to bribe Lord Powers. Disguised as Sylvester, Satira drives to Kyvern Manor, the blackmail victim's home, and demands to be allowed to stay there for a week or more. Fourteen days later, Detective-Inspector Coutts sets off for the manor having been informed by Powers that the Kyvern diamonds have been stolen. The following day he disappears and Lord Powers summons Sexton Blake. The detective learns that the Scotland Yard man had vanished from the guest bedroom during the night. Invited to remain at the manor, Blake goes to bed but is suddenly enveloped by the canopy of his four-poster. The next day, at Baker Street, Tinker receives a visit from Detective-Inspector Widgeon who informs him that Blake, just like Coutts, has vanished. Together, they travel to Kyvern and, that night, Tinker witnesses an unconscious Widgeon being lowered from a bedroom window and loaded into a car. Leaping onto the luggage rack, the young detective finds himself being driven away. Meanwhile, Sexton Blake awakes to find himself incarcerated in an abandoned prison which has been purchased by Dr. Satira. Coutts is also there and, together, they manage to break free just as Tinker arrives on the back of the car transporting Widgeon to his fate. Commandeering the vehicle, the escapees drive to a nearby town and rouse the police. The prison is raided but Satira flees in a gas balloon. Lord Powers commits suicide, leaving a note to explain how the criminal had blackmailed him into supporting his nefarious schemes.

Trivia: Parts of this were rehashed for DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 300 as DR. SATIRA'S REVENGE (1938).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: While on the run from the police, Doctor Satira is involved in a train crash. After stealing the clothes from a dead passenger named Shrood, he bandages up his face so that he won't be recognised. The passenger turns out to be a private detective, so Satira takes his place and travels to the home of Sir Joel Madders, who wants the theft of some emeralds investigated. Satira discovers that Sir Joel has many other treasures, including diamonds, and decides to steal as much as he can. It turns out that the valet, Raddles, has the same idea — he wants to join with Satira and split the proceeds. Satira responds by killing him. Detective-Inspector Coutts is called to investigate the murder — he is told that it is Shrood who has died — and takes with him Sexton Blake and Tinker. Sir Joel informs them that Shrood was discovered dead in his bed, apparently strangled by Raddles who is missing. However, when the detectives view the body and unwrap the bandages from the dead man's face they find that it is Raddles. Suddenly a shot is fired from an upstairs window at Tinker who is waiting outside. The lad catches a glimpse of Satira but when Blake and Coutts search the house they find no sign of the villain. That night, Blake overhears Satira speaking on the telephone in Sir Joel's locked study. He fetches Coutts for support but by the time they return to the room their bird has flown. The Scotland Yard man is left on guard and, two hours later, finds himself confronted by Satira who mysteriously vanishes from the room. The next morning, workmen are called in to strip the panelling from the walls. A secret passage is revealed, which explains how the villainous doctor has been able to move so freely around the house. Of Satira, though, there is no sign; he disguised himself as the body of Raddles and was removed by the mortuary men, escaping the law once again.

Trivia:. Parts of this were rehashed for DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 300 as DR. SATIRA'S REVENGE (1938).

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: This story was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 337 as THE RIDDLE OF THE KING CROOK'S MESSENGER (1939).

Unrated

Notes: None at present.

Unrated

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

Unrated

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

Unrated

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

Unrated

Notes: Monocle-wearing Furg the Fur Man is the manager of the All-Alaska Fur Store Ltd. — a London firm that upon its inception quickly begins to snatch trade away from bigger, better established companies. When a Canadian competitor named Jeff Wallard attempts to shoot Furg during an auction, Sexton Blake's curiosity is aroused. Furg never bids ... so where do his furs come from? Commissioned to investigate, Blake goes to Vine Street police station to interview Wallard and learns that the man was trying to avenge his brother, who died after stumbling into one of Furg's traps on the 'Haunted Trail' in Canada's Strong Woods. This trading passage has been avoided since Furg appeared in the district and has gained a reputation for being haunted and unlucky. Some weeks later, Blake and Tinker arrive in North West Canada and trek to the fur-trapping country around Strong Woods. At the first trading post they come to, they find that its commissioner has been fatally stabbed, evidently because he had discovered something about the Haunted Trail. He says one word — "McEnemy" — and dies. The detective and Tinker proceed to 'Big Divide', the next trading post. Leaving Tinker to guard the huskies, Blake enters the post and is confronted by a huge brute of a man known as The Red Factor. This villain, with his sidekick, Francois the Wolf, overpowers Blake and leaves him tied up before making a getaway. Tinker comes to the rescue and he and Blake discover a huge stash of furs in a cellar beneath the trading post. Plainly, there is illicit business going on. When a man — McEnemy — turns up, Blake holds him at gunpoint and forces an admission from him: he has been helping fur poachers to smuggle out furs beneath the noses of the officially sanctioned companies. Further explanations are interrupted by the arrival of a mountie — Trooper Bell — who arrests Blake for the murder of the commissioner and takes him and Tinker away for questioning. McEnemy awaits the return of The Red Factor and, upon that villain's arrival, informs him that as soon as Blake's identity becomes known, the game will be up. The Red Factor races south along the Haunted Trail and warns his gang — which preys on fur trappers who pass along the trail — that Blake is on the warpath. While the detective, still in Trooper Bell's custody, is delayed by a blizzard, the crook reaches a telegraph office and sends a message to Furg. Three days later, Blake reaches the same office and receives messages that prove to Bell his innocence. He sends the Mounty to join forces that are, at his orders, surrounding the Strong Woods. These forces round up the gang, one of whom confesses to killing the commissioner of the trading post. Furg's stash of smuggled furs are destroyed by a mysterious fire and the fur man claims the insurance. Blake knows that arson was committed but cannot lay the crime at Furg's door.

Trivia: Tinker is said to be about eighteen years old.

An abridged version of this was reprinted in the SEXTON BLAKE ANNUAL 1941

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Hiram Clance is president of the Kennel Club in the Alaskan town of Nome. With the racing season about to start, he's heard rumours that a man from Ottawa has trained a strong team of hounds that might beat his own, and spots the individual in question in a tavern. It is Furg the Fur Man ... and he is in conversation with Sexton Blake. Though they have been in opposition once before (see previous issue), this is the first time the detective and crook have met face to face. Blake makes it clear to Furg that he intends to bring him to account for his crimes. Furg, as ever, is impassive. The town is crowded with race-goers, so Blake and Tinker have been forced to room in a shanty beside a dog pound. From it, they spot Francois the Wolf, who — along with the Red Factor — has escaped from prison. When they learn that Clance and Furg have made a twenty thousand dollar wager, and that Furg has unwisely mixed mongrels into his dog team, it becomes clear that the crook is up to something ... a suspicion confirmed when Furg's thoroughbreds are then stolen. Further news comes: Clance's dogs have been shot dead. Blake theorises that Francois the Wolf and the Red Factor are behind these atrocities and that Furg intends to win the bet and the race, and to then claim insurance. A man named Hunk McGyant reports that he has discovered Furg's thoroughbreds, all shot, but Blake discovers a connection between McGyant and Furg, so suspects the man of having done the killing himself. When the race begins, Furg enters with his mongrels, whereas Clance is left with no team at all. Francois the Fox kills and replaces Furg's driver but Blake captures him and takes over the team while Tinker escorts the villain back to town. Francois gives evidence against Furg but, before he can make an official statement, the gathered race enthusiasts lynch him. Meanwhile, Blake encounters the Red Factor, who is moving the stakes that mark the trail in order to send the other teams off route. The crook is arrested but won't say a word against Furg. The Fur Man, in order to maintain an appearance of innocence and sportsmanship, calls off his bet with Clance. He remains free to collect the insurance payout and to pursue his next scheme.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: In the Alaskan city of Nome, Sexton Blake has turned his attention to Furg the Fur Man's seal skin smuggling operations. With Francois dead and Red Factor in prison, the Aurora Queen is short of two hands, and Blake is certain that he and Tinker are to be kidnapped to replace them. He responds to this threat by having Tinker disappear before then purposely allowing himself to be captured. He's overpowered and taken aboard Captain Hunk McGyant's ship. By now, Tinker is also aboard, albeit as a stowaway. When the youngster steals a paper on which a radio message has been written, McGyant notices its absence and blames his British gunner, Dockland, knocking him senseless and making an enemy of him. With the sea ice breaking up, the Aurora Queen steams northward and Blake is put to work. Dockland tells him that McGyant dominates the illegal trade in seal skins thanks to assistance from something known as the Phantom Sealer. He also identifies himself as an ally, should Blake require one. The ship approaches the seal rookeries and another vessel is spotted. It is captained by McGyant's rival, Dog Dollmin, who is already taking skins aboard. Gunfire is exchanged but then Dockland turns the Aurora Queen's machine gun on its own crew and keeps them covered while Blake and Tinker take control. The detective sets a course for Nome, making McGyant furious, as he will now gain a reputation for running away from Dollmin. Blake then uses the wireless to summon the the Phantom Sealer, who soon arrives in a seaplane. The phantom turns out to be a young woman, who comes aboard and introduces herself as Angele, Furg's lover. Blake interviews her and learns that the Aurora Queen had belonged to her father before he was murdered. Furg purchased it, along with the plane, and had Angele trained as a pilot. Blake suspects that it was Furg who killed the girl's father but, before he can learn more, McGyant's men make an effort to recapture the ship, which in the ensuing confusion collides with an iceberg. Blake, rendered unconscious, is dragged onto the ice by Tinker. Angele gets to her plane and flies away. McGyant and half of his crew drown before a rescue vessel arrives. By the time Blake reaches dry land, Furg has disappeared.

Trivia: The events of this story occur immediately after those recounted in the previous issue.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Ruff Hanson has been hired to look after the son of a film producer — Mr. Benjamin Cayterer — who fears that an unscrupulous rival named Isidore Solmann might try to kidnap the boy and hold him hostage until Cayterer hands over an incriminating statement by a crook once employed by Solmann. Hanson has been given the run of Lyveden Manor in Kent for the duration of his job and invites Sexton Blake, Tinker, Detective-Inspector Coutts and Splash Page to join him there for the festive season. As Cayterer is doing research for a series of films based on the work of Charles Dickens, this provides the theme, and all dress up as characters from the author's books. A large party is thrown for the children of the parish and fun is had by all ... until late in the evening when Cayterer Junior is snatched from his room. The following day (Christmas Day) a wax disk is delivered to the mansion. On it is recorded the sound of Junior being tortured. Investigations seem to lead nowhere until, late that night, Ruff Hanson follows a ghostly noise down to the cellar where he is knocked out. He has stumbled upon a smuggling operation in which the manor's butler is involved. Before he is overpowered, the big American manages to shoot a bullet through the butler's wrist and it is this, the following morning, that attracts Blake's attention. While Hanson escapes and rounds up the gang, Blake traces the whereabouts of Junior and goes to his rescue ... but Mrs Bardell gets there first and gives the kidnappers a good hiding with her umbrella. With Junior returned to his father, a merry Christmas is had by all (except the villains, of course).

Trivia: This was anthologised in CRIME AT CHRISTMAS (1974).

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Story features Furg, the Fur Man.

Unrated

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

Unrated

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

Unrated