The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy

 

CONTENTS


Prologue

A Resignation

Ten Downing Street

Guests

The Richest Man in Europe

Misgivings

Jane's Journey

Tea on the Terrace

The Secret Passage

Friday Morning

Friday Afternoon

The Baroness de la Roche

Double Deadlock

Grand Tour

Storm Over Alderley

Break-Out

Robbery

Enter Inspector Wilkins

The Body in the Lake

Murder

The Bloodstained Egg Cosy

Mr Felman's Bombshell

Behind the Sliding Door

Lady Geraldine's Confession

'There's a Killer in the House'

Cross-Questioning of a Minister

Richard's Story

Concealed Weapons

Inspector Wilkins Turns Poet

Pistols for Two

Nightmare

Arrest

The Killer

The Reason Why

Execution

Inspector Wilkins Explains

Future Plans

The Final Mystery


    Principal Characters

    George Henry Aylwin Saunders

    , 12th Earl of Burford

    The Hon. Richard Lestrange Saunders

    , MP, his brother

    Mr Hiram S Peabody of Texas

    , a multi-millionaire

    Martin Adler

    , a foreign envoy

    Nicholas Felman

    , his aide

    Lieut-Commander Giles Deveraux

    , RN (Rtd)

    Edward Thornton

    , British Foreign Office

    Algernon Fotheringay

    , Esquire, a young man about town

    Stanislaus Batchev

    , a stranger

    John Evans

    , secretary to Mr Peabody

    Merryweather

    , butler to Lord Burford

    Detective-Inspector Wilkins

    , CID

    Detective-Sergeant Leather

    Lavinia

    , Countess of Burford

    Lady Geraldine Saunders

    , her daughter

    The Baroness Anilese de la Roche

    , widow of a French aristocrat

    Mrs Hiram

    ('Carrie') Peabody

    Miss Jane Clifton

    , an impoverished young lady


    PROLOGUE

    'How well do you know Adolf Hitler?'

    The man who asked the question was short and dapper and wore a military uniform heavy with insignia. He turned away from the window of his office as he spoke and surveyed the only other occupant of the room with a look of slight distaste.

    This was an older, somewhat seedy-looking man in a blue serge suit and a dirty collar. He was smoking a cigarette and lazily blowing smoke rings towards the ceiling.

    'Not well at all,' he said. 'I've met him twice. Why do you ask?'

    'Last week your department supplied me with the transcript of a speech he had just made to a secret meeting of Nazi party officials.'

    'Concerning the Duchy?'

    'Yes.'

    'What about it?'

    'I just wondered if you were able to read between the lines of that speech.'

    'Well, it's obvious he wants the Duchy.'

    'That has been obvious for a long time. On this occasion, however, he laid considerable stress on her strategic importance - and on her military weakness.'

    'Indicating that he intends to act soon - to annexe her?'

    'We believe so. Which would, of course, be disastrous to our interests.'

    'Would it? Well, if you say so.'

    'I do. It was decided many months ago that if any country was to annexe the Duchy, it had to be ourselves. But there was no great urgency. Because there is an obstacle.'

    The older man sucked at his cigarette and puffed three or four smoke rings upwards. 'England,' he said.

    'Precisely. Or Britain, to be more accurate. Britain recognises the importance of keeping the Grand Duke on the throne and the Duchy, to put it crudely, on her side. She will certainly be prepared to act to ensure this. Just how much she will be willing to do we've never known. However, Hitler's speech has changed the situation entirely. Now it is essential we act quickly. As the American cowboy films so quaintly put it, we must beat him to the draw. But first of all we have got to find out just how far Britain is prepared to go in the Duchy's defence.'

    'Which, I suppose, is why I was so peremptorily summoned here this morning.'

    The short man sat down in a chair near the other, leaned forward, and spoke in a low voice. 'There is shortly to be a secret meeting between a representative of the Grand Duke - probably Martin Adler himself - and a British government minister. Can you discover where and when that meeting is to take place - and what is decided at it?'

    The older man's eyes narrowed and he eased himself slowly upright in his chair. 'That,' he said, 'will not be simple.'

    'Of course it won't be simple. But can you do it?'

    'Perhaps.' The older man was silent for a moment, then added: 'There is one agent - and one agent only - in the world who might succeed. Not one of my own people - a freelance. I f this agent is available, then the answer is probably yes. But it will cost a great deal of money.'

    'The cost is immaterial. Just find out what we want to know.'

    'Which is - precisely?'

    'Exactly what arms and equipment Britain agrees to supply, and - most important - how soon she can deliver: we must know how quickly we have to act. Also, what Britain would do in the event of the Duchy being invaded: would she intervene directly by sending troops? On the answer to these questions depends our course of action. It is entirely up to your department to get them.'

    The civilian was still for a few seconds.