Four Square Jane Read online

  Peter went to the telephone and rang up Scotland Yard, but they had heard nothing of the sealing of the house and suggested that he should seek out the Chancery officials to discover who had made the order and under what circumstances. Only those who have attempted to disturb the routine of the Court of Chancery will appreciate the unhappy hours which Peter spent that day, wandering from master to master, in a vain attempt to secure news or information.

  He went back to the house at half-past four that evening, determined to brave whatever terror the Court of Chancery might impose, and again he was met by the butler on the doorstep, but this time a butler bursting with news.

  “I’m very glad you’ve come, sir. I’ve got such a lot to tell you. About half-an-hour after you’d gone, sir, I heard a ripping and tearing in the study, and I went to the door and listened. I couldn’t understand what was going on, so I shouted out: ‘Who’s there?’ And who do you think replied?”

  Peter’s heart had sunk at the butler’s words. “I know,” he said. “It was Four Square – it was Miss Joyce Wilberforce.”

  “So it was, sir,” said the butler in surprise. “How did you know?”

  “I guessed,” said Peter shortly.

  “It appeared she’d been locked in quite by accident by the officer of the Court,” the butler went on, “and she was having a look through his lordship’s desk to find some letters she’d left behind.

  “Of course, sir, everybody knows that Lord Claythorpe’s desk is one of the most wonderful in the world. It’s full of secret drawers, and I remember Miss Joyce saying once that if his lordship wanted to hide anything it would take a month to find it.”

  Peter groaned.

  “They wanted time – of course, they wanted time!”

  What a fool he had been all through! There was no need for the butler to tell him the rest of the story, because he guessed it. But the man went on.

  “After a bit,” he said, “I heard the key turn in the lock, and out came Miss Joyce, looking as pleased as Punch. But you should have seen the state of that desk!”

  “So she broke the seals, did she?” said Peter, with gentle irony.

  “Oh, yes, she broke the seals, and she broke the desk, too,” said the butler impressively. “And when she came out, she was carrying a big square sheet of paper in her hand – a printed-on paper, like a bank note, sir.”

  “I know,” said Peter. “It was a bond.”

  “Ah. I think it might have been,” said the butler hazily. “At any rate, that’s what she had. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘it took a lot of finding.’ ‘Miss,’

  said I ‘you oughtn’t to take anything from his lordship’s study until

  the law–’ ‘Blow the law,’ said she. Them was her very words – blow the law, sir.”

  “She’s blown it, all right,” said Peter, and left the house. His last hope was to block all the ports, and in this way prevent their leaving the country. However, he had no great hopes of succeeding in his attempts to hold the volatile lady whose escapades had given him so many sleepless nights.

  Two months later, Peter Dawes received a letter bearing a South American postmark. It was from Joyce Steele.

  “You don’t know how sorry I am that we had to give you so much trouble,” it ran; “and really, the whole timing was ridiculous, because all the time I was breaking the law to secure that which was my own. It is true that I am Four Square Jane. It is equally true that I am Four Square Jane no longer, and that henceforth my life will be blameless! And really, dear Mr Dawes, you did much better than any of the other detectives who were put on my track. I am here with my husband, and the two friends who very kindly assisted us with our many exploits are also in South America, but at a long distance from us. They are very nice people, but I am afraid they have criminal minds, and nothing appals me more than the criminal mind. No doubt there is much that has happened that has puzzled you, and made you wonder why this, or that, or the other happened. Why, for example, did I consent to go to church with that impossible person, Francis Claythorpe? Partly, dear friend, because I was already married, and it did not worry me a bit to add bigamy to my other crimes. And partly because I made ample preparations for such a contingency, and knew that marriage was impossible. I had hoped, too, that Lord Claythorpe would give me a wedding present of some value, which hope was doomed to disappointment. But I did get a lot of quite valuable presents from his many friends, and these both Jamieson and I most deeply appreciate. Jamieson was the doctor who saw me at Lewinstein’s, by the way. He has been my right-hand man, and my dearest confederate. Perhaps, Mr Dawes, you will meet us again in London, when we are tired of South America. And perhaps when you meet us you will not arrest us, because you will have taken a more charitable view of our behaviour, and perhaps you will have induced those in authority to share your view. I am tremendously happy – would you be kind enough to tell my mother that? I do not think it will cheer her up, because she is not that kind.

  “I first got my idea of playing Four Square Jane from hearing a servant we once employed – a Jane Briglow – discussing the heroic adventures of some fictional personage in whom she was interested. But it was a mistake to call me ‘Jane.’ The ‘J’ stands for Joyce. When you have time for a holiday, won’t you come over and see us? We should love to entertain you.”

  There was a PS to the letter which brought a wry smile to the detective’s face.

  “PS Perhaps you had better bring your own cigarettes.”

  Series Information

  Dates given are for year of first publication.

  ‘Lieutenant Bones’ Series

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  1. Bones 1915

  2. The Keepers of the King’s Peace 1917

  3. Bones in London 1921

  4. Bones of the River 1923

  Refer also to the ‘Sanders’ Series

  ‘Educated Evans’ Series

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  1. Educated Evans 1924

  2. More Educated Evans 1926

  3. Good Evans Also: ‘The Educated Man’ 1921

  ‘The Four Just Men’ Series

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  1. The Four Just Men 1905

  2. The Council of Justice 1908

  3. The Just Men of Cordova 1917

  4. The Law of the Four Just Men 1921

  5. The Three Just Men 1926

  6. Again, the Three Just Men Also: ‘The Law of the Three Just Men’ 1977

  ‘Mr. J.G. Reeder’ Series

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  1. Room 13 1924

  2. The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder Also: ‘The Murder Book of Mr. J.G. Reeder’ 1925

  3. Terror Keeper 1927

  4. Red Aces 1929

  5. Mr. J.G. Reeder Returns 1932

  ‘Mr. Commissioner Sanders’ Series

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  1. Sanders of the River 1911

  2. The People of the River 1912

  3. The River of Stars 1913

  4. Bosambo of the River 1914

  5. The Keepers of the King’s Peace 1917

  6. Sandi the Kingmaker 1922

  7. Sanders Also: ‘Mr. Commissioner Sanders’ 1926

  8. Again Sanders 1928

  Synopses - All Titles

  Published by House of Stratus

  Admiral Carfew

  Gregory Carfew is ‘an unparalleled master of descriptive’. Felix Carfew ‘writes a vile hand’. There is a new boy on the desk at The Megaphone and it is Felix who is handed the envelope. Finding himself on Ambassador Greishen’s special train, then on a steamer to Ostend, Felix recklessly exploits the opportunity. At 3.00 a.m. Gregory gets an urgent telegram. On the quay at Ostend Felix flees and Gregory steps forward to introduce himself…

 
; Angel of Terror

  Jack Glover of Rennet, Glover and Simpson does not believe his cousin Meredith killed Bulford. Meredith’s father was an eccentric and unless Meredith is married by the age of thirty his sister inherits everything. She is dead and Meredith, now in prison, is thirty next Monday. Meanwhile Lydia Beale is struggling to pay her dead father’s creditors. When Glover offers her money she is shocked. However, despite the strange conditions attached, it is a proposal she cannot afford to ignore.

  Avenger

  Francis Elmer has vanished, and all that is found is a typed note signed ‘The Head Hunter’. Elmer’s niece Adele Leamington is an extra at the Knebworth Film Corporation. The actress Stella Mendoza keeps the whole set waiting to shoot, in the best Hollywood tradition, but her starring role is given to Adéle. Surprised by Mike Brixan as she is learning her lines, Adele drops the typed script. The ‘v’ letters are blurred and the ‘g’ is indistinct. Mike turns white…

  Barbara On Her Own

  A thrilling tale of commerce and intrigue starring Barbara, god-daughter and Private Secretary to Mr Maber. Unlike the old-fashioned Maber & Maber department store, the modern Atterman’s store is a successful, profitable business. At a take-over meeting Barbara gives Messers Atterman and Minkey a piece of her mind. On the evening before the deal is to be finalised something happens to Mr Maber…the police summon Barbara – now she is on her own!

  Big Foot

  Footprints and a dead woman bring together Superintendent Minton and the amateur sleuth Mr Cardew. Who is the man in the shrubbery? Who is the singer of the haunting Moorish tune? Why is Hannah Shaw so determined to go to Pawsy, ‘a dog lonely place’ she had previously detested? Death lurks in the dark and someone must solve the mystery before BIG FOOT strikes again, in a yet more fiendish manner.

  Black Abbott

  They say the ghost of the Black Abbot has been seen near the old abbey, and Cartwright the grocer claims to have seen it too. Meanwhile Harry Alford, eighteenth Earl of Chelford is engaged to Leslie Gine, sister of Arthur, solicitor and gambler with the family fortune. The Earl had originally asked his secretary Mary Wenner to be his bride, but his half brother Richard intervened to stop the marriage. Plotting revenge, Mary proposes she and Arthur marry. Her dowry, she insists, will be fifteen tons of Spanish gold – the missing Chelford treasure.

  Bones

  It is a time when the major world powers are vying for colonial honours, a time of ju-ju, witch doctors and an uneasy peace with Bosambo, impressive chief of the Ochori. When Commissioner Sanders goes on leave, the trusty Lieutenant Hamilton takes over administration of the African territories. However, yet again, the trouble-prone Bones, while meaning to assist, only manages to spread his own unique style of innocent and endearing mischief.

  Bones in London

  The new Managing Director of Schemes Ltd has an elegant London office and a theatrically dressed assistant – however Bones, as he is better known, is bored. Luckily there is a slump in the shipping market and it is not long before Joe and Fred Pole pay Bones a visit. They are totally unprepared for Bones’ unnerving style of doing business, unprepared for his unique style of innocent and endearing mischief.

  Bones of the River

  ‘Taking the little paper from the pigeon’s leg, Hamilton saw it was from Sanders and marked URGENT.

  Send Bones instantly to Lujamalababa… Arrest and bring to head-quarters the witch doctor.’

  It is a time when the world’s most powerful nations are vying for colonial honour, a time of trading steamers and tribal chiefs. In the mysterious African territories administered by Commissioner Sanders, Bones persistently manages to create his own unique style of innocent and endearing mischief.

  Clue of the New Pin

  Jesse Trasmere is a miser with a deep distrust of the bank. He has made a fortune in China, but keeps it hoarded in his prison-like house. Although his nephew, Rex Lander, receives a generous allowance from his uncle, it is not enough for his extravagant lifestyle. One day Trasmere breaks with routine and informs his valet, Walters, that he is going out of town for a while to avoid an acquaintance from his past. So how does this explain Trasmere’s body later found in a locked vault?

  Clue of the Silver Key

  This thrilling murder mystery features some veritable characters: inventor and heir-at-law Dick Allenby, and banker and speculator Leo Moran. Add Dornford, Hennessey and the actress Mary Lane, and Washington Wirth who gives parties and loves flattery. Hervey Lyne, Binny and the indomitable Surefoot Smith. Of them all only Tickler is innocent. Leaving gala night at the Litigation Club, Dick and Surefoot are discussing guns…but there before them a cab has been left in the middle of the road. The man inside has been shot.

  Clue of the Twisted Candle

  Kara hates candles. He also believes that there is a great criminal lost in John Lexman, the detective-story writer involved in a plot more fantastic than any of his own ingenious mysteries. It is no secret that Kara had hoped to marry the beautiful Grace, but she is now Lexman’s wife. But Lexman owes Vassalaro, the Greek moneylender, and Vassalaro has threatened to kill him. A tense and powerful tale that moves dramatically between London and the Balkans.

  Coat of Arms

  It is a small world and the possibility of old criminal acquaintances meeting at a Surrey roadhouse is by no means remote. Sketchley, where the Coat of Arms roadhouse stands, is a place of strange happenings. There are thefts of valuable gold plate, a suspicious old man, seen but not caught, a burglar who returns stolen valuables. When the local manor burns down the owner and guests move to the roadhouse, old vendettas intensify. Interests clash. Murder is committed.

  Council of Justice

  There are crimes for which no punishment is adequate, offences that the written law cannot efface. Herein lies the justification for The Council of Justice – a meeting of great and passionless intellects. These men are indifferent to world opinion. They relentlessly wage their wits and cunning against powerful underworld organisations, against past masters of villainy and against minds equally astute. To breakers of the unwritten laws they deal death.

  Crimson Circle

  When James Beardmore receives a letter demanding £100,000 he refuses to pay – even though it is his last warning. It is his son Jack who finds him dead. Can the amazing powers of Derrick Yale, combined with the methodical patience of Inspector Parr, discover the secret of the Crimson Circle? Who is its all-powerful head and who is the stranger who lies in wait? Twice in a lifetime a ruthless criminal faces the executioner.

  Daffodil Mystery

  When Mr Thomas Lyne, poet, poseur and owner of Lyne’s Emporium insults a cashier, Odette Rider, she resigns. Having summoned detective Jack Tarling to investigate another employee, Mr Milburgh, Lyne now changes his plans. Tarling and his Chinese companion refuse to become involved. They pay a visit to Odette’s flat. In the hall Tarling meets Sam, convicted felon and protégé of Lyne. Next morning Tarling discovers a body. The hands are crossed on the breast, adorned with a handful of daffodils.

  Dark Eyes of London

  Inspector Holt is enjoying the Café de la Paix and the Boulevard des Italiens. He and his valet Sunny are planning a visit to Monte Carlo when an urgent telegram arrives from the Chief Commissioner of Scotland Yard. Mr Gordon Stuart has been found drowned in suspicious circumstances. Holt returns on the same boat as Flash Fred Grogan, continental crook and gambler. Attempting to solve the mystery leads Holt into a string of exciting adventures – including romance.

  Daughters of the Night

  Jim Bartholomew is a young manager of a branch of the South Devon Farmers’ Bank with a love of hunting, horses and a dislike of routine. What does he have in common with Margot, the beautiful Mrs Markham and a handsome American? And what do the Daughters of the Night – the three Roman deities who brought punishment to evil-doers – have to do with this tale?

  Debt Discharged

  Thomas Maple lives on Crystal Palace Road with his niece Veri
ty. He works for a firm of bank note engravers. However, the dollar bills he shows Wentworth Gold are forgeries – perfect except for the missing Treasury sign. When Verity meets her new employer she develops serious misgivings, and arriving back home she can hear a menacing voice. What power do these men hold over her uncle? Who is the mysterious he? She hesitates, then follows them.

  Devil Man

  To whisper the name of Charles Pearce is to incite a hoard of wild imaginings, all that makes the flesh creep. Pearce is physically repulsive, tiny in stature, but a Samson in strength. He is a gifted musician, a terrible braggart – and for some reason women find him irresistible. He is also a burglar. And a murderer. There is a baffling mystery that someone urgently needs to solve…

  Door with Seven Locks

  Dick Martin is leaving Scotland Yard. His final job, investigating a stolen book, takes him via a conversation with the librarian Sybil Lansdown to Gallows Cottage and a meeting with Doctor Stalletti. Tommy Crawler, Bertram Cody’s chauffeur is also there. Arriving home, Martin finds Lew Pheeney being followed by a man for whom he recently worked. ‘Doing what?’ demands Martin. Lew finally confesses. ‘I was trying to open a dead man’s tomb!’ The telephone rings. It is Mr Havelock.

  Duke in the Suburbs

  The Duke de Montvillier and George Hankey, who discovered silver in Los Madges, have moved into Kymott Crescent. Alicia Terrill, widow and relation of Sir Harry Tanner, finds the Duke a distinctly unpleasant neighbour. Sir Harry’s son is sent to intervene. Unannounced, Sir Harry arrives with a stranger. ‘The coming of Big Bill Slewer, ripe for murder and with the hatred he had accumulated during his five years’ imprisonment’, has played splendidly into his hands.