Published by COLLINS CRIME CLUB
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by The Crime Club by W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1921
Copyright © Estate of Freeman Wills Crofts 1921
Introduction © Estate of Freeman Wills Crofts 1946
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1920, 2020
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008190521
Ebook Edition © September 2016 ISBN: 9780008190538
Version: 2020-01-17
TO
DR ADAM A. C. MATHERS,
IN APPRECIATION OF HIS KINDLY
CRITICISM AND HELP
Table of Contents
Chapter I: A STRANGE CONSIGNMENT
Chapter II: Inspector Burnley on the Track
Chapter III: The Watcher on the Wall
Chapter IV: A Midnight Interview
Chapter V: Felix Tells a Story
Chapter VI: The Art of Detection
Chapter VIII: The Opening of the Cask
Chapter IX: M. le Chef de la Sûreté
Chapter X: Who Wrote the Letter?
Chapter XI: Mm. Dupierre et Cie
Chapter XII: At the Gare St Lazare
Chapter XIII: The Owner of the Dress
Chapter XIV: M. Boirac Makes a Statement
Chapter XV: The House in the Avenue de l’Alma
Chapter XVI: Inspector Burnley Up Against It
Chapter XVII: A Council of War
Chapter XVIII: Lefarge Hunts Alone
Chapter XIX: The Testing of an Alibi
Chapter XX: Some Damning Evidence
Chapter XXI: A New Point of View
Chapter XXII: Felix Tells a Second Story