Sexton Blake Bibliography: 2020

Notes: In Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II discusses with military officers the forthcoming naval manoeuvres that are to be undertaken in secret in the North Sea by more than three hundred British ships. He muses that the British may have become aware that the Shetland Islands would make a fine base for an attacking force. He notes that the German navy has thoroughly familiarised itself with those waters. His words are leaked to the press, and when they find their way to the British Prime Minister, Sexton Blake is summoned. The detective is ordered to investigate the extent of German influence in the Shetlands. The next day, Blake, Tinker and Detective-Inspector Spearing travel north to the islands. That night, while Blake is on the cliffs, an airship passes overhead and he spontaneously grabs a trailing rope and is swung out to sea. Climbing it, he enters the gondola, which is occupied by twelve Germans. One of them proves to be the Kaiser, who attempts to bribe the detective to remain silent about the dirigible's presence. Blake refuses and, as the vessel approaches land, dives overboard into the sea. The airship descends to just above the water to search for him, which gives him the opportunity to surreptitiously secure himself beneath its gondola. He is in that way taken to the German base on one of the small uninhabited Jersey islands where he is able to spy undetected. When he sees that one of the crewmen bears a resemblance to him, he pounces on the man, leaves him bound and gagged, and dons sufficient of a disguise to masquerade as him. Joining the other Germans, he accompanies the Kaiser to a cave that contains a chart outlining all the coastal areas of Jersey that Germany has selected to use as ports. The Kaiser makes it clear that he has no real intention to attack Britain but must have precautions in place in case international relations deteriorate. When the man Blake is impersonating is discovered, the detective flees, dives into the sea, and after a long swim is picked up by a boat containing Tinker and Spearing, who have been searching for him. They take him to the British fleet's flagship where he reports what he has seen, though he omits to mention the presence of the Kaiser. A ship is sent to the island, the base is destroyed, and the Germans are captured. Blake, Tinker and Spearing, however, smuggle the emperor away, across to the mainland, and head south by train. En route, the Kaiser twice tries to escape and is twice foiled. Then, when London is reached, he is kidnapped by Anarchists who leave him bound hand and foot in a burning house. Blake performs a daring rescue, almost losing his life in the process. He then takes the Kaiser to meet with the Prime Minister. Terms and conditions are discussed, announcements are made in Parliament, and the Kaiser heads home after having received a lecture from Sexton Blake concerning the consequences of war.

Trivia: This story was first published in UNION JACK issue 253 (1908). The version presented here has been very slightly edited to excise racially insensitive language. The original had previously been reprinted in two parts in PENNY POPULAR issue 101 as THE IMPERIAL SPY and PENNY POPULAR issue 102 as THE KAISER'S RANSOM (both 1914).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Sexton Blake is invited to fence with a master swordsman and finds himself crossing epées with Zenith the Albino. After the mocking repartee that always marks their encounters, the master villain declares that he's off to steal a diamond and evades the pursuing detective. During the subsequent car chase, Blake manages to catch a glimpse of a clown sitting beside the albino. The next morning, the clown is found dead in a solicitor's office. Blake realises that the body has been placed there to look like the victim of murder when, in fact, the clown died elsewhere after falling from a height. He deduces that he was climbing to the window of an adjoining building when he fell. The window leads to the rooms of an eccentric inventor, Professor Lees-Cranmer, who has been receiving death-threats demanding that he hands over a worthless glass goblet that was given to him by his now-deceased uncle. The most recent note states that, since he won't give up the goblet, it will be destroyed at precisely twelve o'clock. Blake, Tinker, Pedro, Inspector Coutts and the professor stand guard around it but, at twelve sharp, it shatters. The professor's untrustworthy servant had planted a tiny radio-controlled explosive in the decorations around its base. It seems as if Zenith's criminal organisation has won. Back in Baker Street, Blake ponders over the case. He can't understand why the goblet is considered so valuable. He sends Tinker to recover the fragments but his sidekick reports that they have already been collected by the disposal men and are now heading for the city dump where they will go into the incinerator. Sexton Blake rushes to the dump and comes face to face with Zenith. They fight, precariously balanced on a gangway above the incinerator. The albino manages to elude the detective but, later, they meet again. They are both on the marshes where the ashes from the incinerator are spread. Blake now knows that a diamond had been concealed in the base of the goblet. It would have survived the processing and must be somewhere here on the marshes. Both he and Zenith have come to search. This time, they both have men in tow and the numbers are evenly matched. Instead of fighting, they agree to a truce. Zenith and his men will not start a fight if they are left to search the marshes for 24-hours. To his companions' astonishment, Blake agrees to this. Bending to tie a knotted handkerchief to Pedro's collar, he leads the hound away from Zenith and returns to Baker Street. There he reveals that he has the diamond. Having spotted it at his feet, he had picked it up and concealed it in the handkerchief. What a fabulous coincidence that he happened to be standing in exactly the right spot! Zenith has lost.

Trivia: This story first appeared in UNION JACK issue 844 (1919). It has been very slightly edited for racially insensitive language.

Rating: ★★★★★ This is Sexton Blake's third encounter with Zenith the Albino and it's the best one so far. With thrilling scenes, mysteries and the characteristic polite but threatening banter, it shows both the hero and the villain at their most charming, dangerous and determined. Their game of cat and mouse, begun in A DUEL TO THE DEATH and continued in THE TENTH CASE, is much more deadly now. Zenith seems genuinely affronted by Blake's incessant interference, while Blake is resolute in his quest to put the pale villain behind bars.

Notes: A Frenchman calling himself Falcon asks Sexton Blake to locate a key — inscribed with the number 7 — that was picked from his pocket along with some other items in Hackney. Blake agrees but is suspicious and muses that Falcon is actually a Czech. In Hackney, he bumps into an old lag named Mick Kelly and tasks him with tracing the pickpocket. The old crook manages to retrieve the key and a wallet but is set upon by thugs who make away with the items. Blake realises that Falcon followed him to Hackney and saw him conversing with Kelly. Kelly tells him that the wallet contained an envelope from the Rutland Hotel on which was written the name Lipsky. There was also a newspaper cutting about a crown. Blake sends Tinker to the press offices to trace the article. At the hotel, he learns that Lipsky is a waiter who had collapsed the night before while holding a note on which was written "The Seventh Key." Blake goes to the man's apartment and finds him murdered. Lipsky's hand is near a seam in the wallpaper behind which the detective discovers a deposit receipt issued by a bank in Prague in 1916. However, as he is reading it, he is attacked, the paper is snatched from him, and his assailant gets away. He returns to Baker Street where Tinker reports no success. Believing that Lipsky's killer will now journey to Prague, Blake sets off in pursuit. The next morning, Tinker encounters Granite Grant who turns out to be in possession of the newspaper article. It concerns the Bohemian crown jewels, which have been locked away since 1625, secured by seven locks with seven keys. Grant reveals that Falcon belongs to a gang headed by a man named Blenkoff, and they are after the keys. He and Tinker try to rendezvous with Blake on the Orient Express but miss it. Meanwhile, having arrived at Vienna, Blake has a meal at a hotel while he waits to catch the connection to Prague. A man sits opposite him and poisons his wine, causing him to miss the train. Upon recovering, he catches another but is followed aboard and knocked senseless. Grant and Tinker trace his movements and realise that something has happened to him. They eventually find him unconscious, tied up, and left on a railway line. After they save him, the three of them commandeer horses from a local farm and race for Prague knowing that the two men who attacked Blake are on the same road. Indeed, the villains set an ambush but, encountering three instead of one, are easily overpowered. Leaving their enemies to fend for themselves, Blake, Tinker and Grant continue on to Prague and arrive at the bank just as Blenkoff and Falcon, carrying a deed box, are leaving the manager's office. The two gangsters are captured and the deed box is revealed to contain a part of the crown jewels.

Trivia: This story first appeared in UNION JACK issue 1,115 (1925).

Rating: ★★★★★ Some instances of clumsy writing mar an otherwise very entertaining tale.