Smallbone Deceased (23 page)

“Miss Chittering's fiancé?”

“Yes. He recognized Miss Cornel and remembers that he mentioned the transaction to Miss Glittering later—even described the rucksack.”

“Yes, I see.”

“Imagine Miss Cornel's feelings when, in the secretaries' room, in front of almost the whole staff—including myself—Miss Glittering suggested that Miss Cornel should lend Miss Bellbas ‘her big green rucksack.'”

“Good God,” said Mr. Craine. “What did she do?”

“Kept her head. Turned the conversation. But I reckon she knew from that moment what would have to be done—and a week later she did it.”

Bohun finished his tea and rose to go. As he reached the door Mr. Craine surprised him by saying: “I wonder what she really thought of Abel.”

“I think she was very attached—”

“Yes,” said Mr. Craine. “It's funny when you come to think of it—the different way people see each other. I don't mind betting the Husbandmen think of Abel as nothing but a crook. I thought about him—when I thought about him—as a damned good lawyer and a bloody difficult partner. To her I suppose he was a sort of god.”

“No,” said Bohun. “I don't think he was quite that. She was too level-headed to have terrestrial gods. It was just that she saw all the better side of him. Do you remember that money she used to distribute to those poor old ladies, as almoner for Abel? When you come to reckon it up, that was a most revealing indication of their relationship. The money was entirely in his discretion. He might so easily and safely have stolen that. But he didn't. He was prepared to swindle a large corporation to the tune often thousand pounds but he wouldn't dip his hand into their shillings and pence. And Miss Cornel knew it. She carried his purse for him. She'd been his right hand and his left hand for nearly twenty years.”

“Of course, he was a widower,” said Mr. Craine thoughtfully. “You don't think—”

“No,” said Bohun firmly. “I don't. I think it was one of those relationships which just happens. I don't suppose either side fully understood it.”

Back in his own room he found Mrs. Porter with the afternoon post. He turned his thoughts resolutely toward the future.

“To the Whizzo Laundry—two z's, Mrs. Porter—West Street, Wirral.”

All Series titles can be read in order, or randomly as standalone novels

Inspector Hazlerigg

1. Close Quarters 
   (1947)
   
2. They Never Looked Inside 
   (alt: He Didn't Mind Danger) (1948)
   
3. The Doors Open 
   (1949)
   
4. Smallbone Deceased 
   (1950)
   
5. Death has Deep Roots 
   (1951)
   
6. Fear To Tread 
   (in part)(1953)
   
7. The Young Petrella 
   (included) (short stories)(1988)
   
8. The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries
   (included) (short stories)(1997)
   

 

Patrick Petrella

1. Blood and Judgement 
   (1959)
   
2. Amateur in Violence
   (included) (short stories) (1973)
   
3. Petrella at Q 
   (short stories) (1977)
   
4. The Young Petrella 
   (short stories) (1988)
   
5. Roller Coaster 
   (1993)
   
6. The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries
   (included) (short stories) (1997)
   

 

Luke Pagan

1. Ring of Terror 
   (1995)
   
2. Into Battle 
   (1997)
   
3. Over and Out 
   (1998)
   

 

Calder & Behrens

1. Game Without Rules 
   (short stories) (1967)
   
2. Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens 
   (short stories) (1982)
   

 

Non-Series

1. Death in Captivity 
   (alt: The Danger Within) (1952)
   
2. Sky High 
   (alt: The Country House Burglar) (1955)
   
3. Be Shot for Sixpence 
   (1956)
   
4. After the Fine Weather 
   (1963)
   
5. The Crack in the Teacup 
   (1966)
   
6. The Dust and the Heat 
   (alt: Overdrive) (1967)
   
7. The Etruscan Net 
   (alt: The Family Tomb) (1969)
   
8. Stay of Execution and Other Stories
   (short stories) (1971)
   
9. The Body of a Girl 
   (1972)
   
10. The Ninety-Second Tiger 
    (1973)
    
11. Flash Point 
    (1974)
    
12. The Night of the Twelfth 
    (1976)
    
13. The Empty House 
    (1979)
    
14. The Killing of Katie Steelstock 
    (alt: Death of a Favourite Girl) (1980)
    
15. The Final Throw 
    (alt: End Game) (1982)
    
16. The Black Seraphim 
    (1984)
    
17. The Long Journey Home 
    (1985)
    
18. Trouble 
    (1987)
    
19. Paint, Gold, and Blood 
    (1989)
    
20. Anything for a Quiet Life 
    (short stories) (1990)
    
21. The Queen against Karl Mullen 
    (1992)
    

 

Published by House of Stratus

	After The Fine Weather When Laura Hart travels to Austria to visit her brother, vice-consul of Lienz in the Tyrol, she briefly meets an American who warns her of the mounting political tension. Neo-Nazis are stirring trouble in the province, and xenophobia is rife between the Austrians who control the area and the Italian locals. Then Laura experiences the troubles first-hand, a shocking incident that suggests Hofrat Humbold, leader of the Lienz government is using some heavy-handed tactics. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he is unwilling to let one little English girl destroy his plans for the largest Nazi move since the war, and Laura makes a dangerous enemy.
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	Anything For A Quiet Life Jonas Pickett, lawyer and commissioner of oaths is nearing retirement, but still has lots of energy. However, he leaves the pressure of a London practice behind to set up a new modest office in a quiet seaside resort. He soon finds that he is overwhelmed with clients and some of them involve him in very odd and sometimes dangerous cases. This collection of inter-linked stories tells how these are brought to a conclusion; ranging from an incredible courtroom drama involving a gipsy queen to terrorist thugs who make their demands at gunpoint.
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	Be Shot For Sixpence A gripping spy thriller with a deserved reputation. Philip sees an announcement in The Times from an old school friend who has instructed the newspaper to publish only if they don't hear from him. This sets a trail running through Europe, with much of the action taking place on the Austro-Hungarian border. The Kremlin, defectors, agitators and the People's Court set the background to a very realistic story that could well have happened …
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	The Black Seraphim James Scotland, a young pathologist, decides on a quiet holiday in Melchester, but amid the cathedral town's quiet medieval atmosphere, he finds a hornet's nest of church politics, town and country rivalries, and murder. He is called upon to investigate and finds that some very curious alliances between the church, state and business exist. With modern forensic pathology he unravels the unvarnished truth about Melchester, but not before a spot of unexpected romance intervenes.
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	Blood & Judgement When the wife of a recently escaped prisoner is found murdered and partially buried near a reservoir, Patrick Petrella, a Metropolitan Police Inspector, is called in. Suspicion falls on the escaped convict, but what could have been his motive? Petrella meets resistance from top detectives at the Yard who would prefer to keep the inspector out of the limelight, but he is determined to solve the mystery with or without their approval.
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	The Body Of A Girl Detective Chief Inspector Mercer is called to the scene when a skeleton of a girl is found on Westlaugh Island in the upper reaches of the River Thames. What appears to be a straightforward and routine investigation, however, leads to unexpected events and a string of unlikely characters, including a lawyer and a one armed garage proprietor. Nothing seems to fit together and it seems the sleepy town holds many secrets. The finale involves two nights of dramatic violence and it isn't until this stage is reached that the twisted truth finally emerges.
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	Close Quarters It has been more than a year since Cannon Whyte fell 103 feet from the cathedral gallery, yet unease still casts a shadow over the peaceful lives of the Close's inhabitants. In an apparently separate incident, head verger Appledown is being persecuted: a spate of anonymous letters and random acts of vandalism imply that he is inefficient and immoral. But then the notes turn threatening, and when Appledown is found dead, Inspector Hazlerigg is called in. Investigations suggest that someone directly connected to the cathedral is responsible, and it is up to Hazlerigg to get to the heart of the corruption.
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	The Crack In The Teacup Barhaven is on the south coast within commuting distance from London. It is, however, a fairly sleepy place and it seems incredulous that it could be the kind of town where the local councillors could manage to line their own pockets. However, there is something odd about the borough engineers behaviour, and it seems strange that the owner of the local amusement park is unknown, and the Town Clerk himself is acting peculiarly. Enter a young lawyer, who finds himself at the centre of a major campaign against racketeering. The public and the press become involved and it ends with a twist that is totally unexpected.
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	Death Has Deep Roots This is a detective and trial story with a complicated plot that will grip the reader. Victoria Lamartine is on trial for the murder of her supposed lover, whom she is accused of having stabbed. There are only five suspects including Lamartine. But evidence that doesn't fit the police theory of the crime has been ignored, whilst all of the damming evidence is presented in isolation. Intriguingly, whilst the murder was committed in England, all of the suspects somehow have a past connection with France and its wartime underground. However, there now appears to be links to gold smuggling and it is not immediately clear how all of the different pieces of evidence fit together. As always, Gilbert neatly takes the reader to a satisfying final twist and conclusion.