The Double Four

The Double Four: a group of talented but ruthless individuals who have turned to crime under the leadership of a European monarch!

The Double Four was created by Gwyn Evans.

His Imperial Majesty, King Karl II is monarch of Serbovia, a wealthy state that lies between Jugo-Slavia and Albania. However, the responsibilities of the crown weigh heavily on him. He is weary of the pomp and state functions, and though revolution is brewing in his country, he frequently absents himself. When Count Steinwitz, his Chamberlain, delivers an ultimatum — return and govern or abdicate — Karl ignores it, and when his royal allowance is stopped, he conceives the idea of organising a vast criminal gang that will provide him, not only with money, but with thrills also.

Operating under the pseudonym "Ace," Karl he is soon known and feared throughout the underworld of Europe. His organisation is named the Double Four, its symbol being an ivory domino, and it is overseen by eight members, Ace being the chief. The others are:

Doctor Gaston Lenoir. A brilliant but perverted genius, Lenoir is Ace's lieutenant and right-hand man.

Scarlatti, a brilliant stage illusionist. He takes over from Lenoir when the latter is convicted and sent to Broadmoor.

Richard Dann. One of the cleverest confidence men of America.

Lou Tarrant, formerly famous under another name as the finest female impersonator in vaudeville.

"Colonel" Tiny Tony, a circus midget, with the golden hair, limpid eyes, and the appearance of a boy of five, but the brain and cunning of a man of thirty-five.

Carfax Crewe, known in the underworld as Gentleman Crewe, son of a nobleman, and an expert safe cracker.

Samson, one time a circus strong man, who can fell an ox with a blow of his fist. He is an genius at escape, acknowledged as a rival to the great Houdini.

Chronology:

The Reign of King Karl I

1. The Problem of the Double Four (UNION JACK issue 1,233, 1927)
While investigating the theft of priceless emeralds, Sexton Blake — with help from Derek 'Splash' Page — exposes the identities of five of the eight members of a criminal gang known as the Double Four. The detective, in recovering the gemstones, also exposes the astonishing true identity of "Ace," their leader. He is King Karl of Serbovia!

2. Duped by the Double Four (UNION JACK issue 1,234, 1927)
Richard Dann has created an automatic typewriter. He arranges to demonstrate the device in front of three manufacturers but then vanishes. Blake investigates and detects the involvement of 'Frisco Fred, a well-known forger. The trail leads from him to a cellar where Dann is discovered tied and bound. 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. Blake attends the demonstration of the real dictation machine, which works, and Dann demands five hundred thousand pounds for the secret of its construction. Blake 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! The other members of the gang appear and a huge fight breaks out. Doctor Lenoir is captured, as are Dann and his wife. It is a massive defeat for the Double Four!

3. The Gallows Mystery (UNION JACK issue 1,235, 1927)
King Karl saves a man from execution as part of a deal to marry the unwilling Princess Sonia Petrova. Blake, while investigating, is poisoned by Scarlatti and declared dead. In Serbovia, Ruff Hansen saves King Karl from an assassin's bullet and is recruited into the criminal gang. However, Blake is not really dead and he and Hansen are plotting the downfall of the Double Four.

4. The Return of Sexton Blake (UNION JACK issue 1,335, 1927) Sexton Blake infiltrates a group of Serbovian revolutionaries. He, Ruff Hanson and Splash Page discuss Blake's fake funeral and Hanson's invitation to join the Double Four. Unfortunately, their conversation is overheard by Tiny Tony, who reports it to King Karl. Blake is captured and placed in the royal castle's dungeon. When the Eastern Army mutinies and the revolt begins, Hanson and Page join an attack on the castle. The rebel bombardment wrecks the dungeon and kills Carfax Crewe and Tiny Tony. Blake escapes, races to the drawbridge, and lowers it to allow the rebels in. He captures Karl and Samson. Ruff Hanson is declared the president of the new republic!

5. The Mystery of the Ivory Beam (THE UNION JACK issue 1,238, 1927)
Sexton Blake returns to London with King Karl II (also known as Ace), Lou Tarrant and Samson as his prisoners. Of the Double Four, only Scarlatti is still on the loose. He murders the young inventor of an invisibility beam then helps his confederates to escape from custody. The Double Four begins to plan its next big campaign of crime. First, it attempts to extort £20,000 from a store manager. Ruff Hanson resigns his post as president of Serbovia and returns in time to help Sexton Blake defeat the plot. Samson and Lou Tarrant are both recaptured. Ace declares that the Double Four will declare war on London unless all its members are given their freedom and a pardon. If this demand is not met, the British Museum will be stolen. Blake muses that his battle with the gang is about to enter its final round.

6. The Mystery of the Vanishing Shop (UNION JACK issue 1,339, 1927)

King Karl makes a last ditch effort to hold London to ransom in return for amnesty. His plans go awry, his gang is decimated, and he himself falls into a vat of acid and is killed.

The Reign of King Karl II

7. The King Crook's Comeback (DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 38, 1933)
Six years after the death of The Ace, his long lost son is identified and crowned as king of Serbovia. King Karl II wastes no time in reviving the Double Four, which is now comprised of Lou Lamont, a female impersonator; Tiny Tony, a midget and child impersonator; Cesare Ravetti, a disguise artist and illusionist; Professor Wolfgang Nacht; a psychotic surgeon who can see in the dark; Peter Tregenna, an expert cracksman; Cyrus Cray, an American gangster; and Olaf Olsen, a strongman. They set out to blaze a trail of vengeance against Sexton Blake. Though he identifies them as the perpetrators of a daring crime, he fails to stop them.

8. The Doomsman of the Double Four (DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 41, 1933)
The revived Double Four attempts to swindle the government by means of a machine that can record and transmit any conversation that ever took place. Sexton Blake pulls a stunt that convinces them that he's dead then leads a police raid. Wolfgang Nacht and Cyrus Cray are killed. Olaf Olsen and Peter Tregenna are captured.

9. The King Crook's Ultimatum (DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 74, 1934)

And thus ends the Double Four.