Read Online Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, The by Nick Rennison - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Nick Rennison
Ads: Link
feet of you, Mr Warden, while you were in the yard. Later Mr Hatch called me, presumably as a workman, and together we went out the gate to get something out of the wagon. The gate guard let us pass out readily as two workmen who had just passed in. We changed our clothing and reappeared, asking to see you. We saw you. That's all.'
  There was silence for several minutes. Dr Ransome was first to speak.
  'Wonderful!' he exclaimed. 'Perfectly amazing.'
  'How did Mr Hatch happen to come with the electricians?' asked Mr Fielding.
  'His father is manager of the company,' replied The Thinking Machine.
  'But what if there had been no Mr Hatch outside to help?'
  'Every prisoner has one friend outside who would help him escape if he could.'
  'Suppose â just suppose â there had been no old plumbing system there?' asked the warden, curiously.
  'There were two other ways out,' said The Thinking Machine, enigmatically.
  Ten minutes later the telephone bell rang. It was a request for the warden.
  'Light all right, eh?' the warden asked, through the 'phone. 'Good. Wire cut beside Cell 13? Yes, I know. One electrician too many? What's that? Two came out?'
  The warden turned to the others with a puzzled expression.
  'He only let in four electricians, he has let out two and says there are three left.'
  'I was the odd one,' said The Thinking Machine.
  'Oh,' said the warden. 'I see.' Then through the 'phone: 'Let the fifth man go. He's all right.'
Loveday Brooke
Created by Catherine Louisa Pirkis (1841 â 1910)
C ATHERINE LOUISA PIRKIS began writing fiction in the 1870s and the majority of her novels are melodramatic romances in the loose tradition established by Wilkie Collins and other 'sensation' novelists of the previous generation. The Experiences of Loveday Brooke , a collection of stories which first appeared in The Ludgate Monthly in 1893, was not only her only venture into the detective genre but also her last published fiction. In the mid-1890s, she gave up writing to devote her time to charitable work. She and her husband became leading activists in the anti-vivisection movement and in the National Canine Defence League, of which they had been founding members in 1891. Loveday Brooke is one of the earliest and most interesting of the female detectives of the period. A professional who works for a Fleet Street Detective Agency, she shows resourcefulness when she is sent under cover (as she is in several of the stories) and confidence in her own ability to discover the truth about the crimes she is investigating. The adventures in which she is embroiled often share some of the melodramatic plot contrivances common in the kind of novels Pirkis wrote in her earlier career but they remain well worth reading for their depictions of a woman making her way successfully in a world usually the preserve of men.
The Murder at Troyte's Hill
'G RIFFITHS, OF THE Newcastle Constabulary, has the case in hand,' said Mr Dyer; 'those Newcastle men are keen-witted, shrewd fellows, and very jealous of outside interference. They only sent to me under protest, as it were, because they wanted your sharp wits at work inside the house.'
  'I suppose throughout I am to work with Griffiths, not with you?' said Miss Brooke.
  'Yes; when I have given you in outline the facts of the case, I simply have nothing more to do with it, and you must depend on Griffiths for any assistance of any sort that you may require.'
  Here, with a swing, Mr Dyer opened his big ledger and turned rapidly over its leaves till he came to the heading 'Troyte's Hill' and the date 'September 6th'.
  'I'm all attention,' said Loveday, leaning back in her chair in the attitude of a listener.
  'The murdered man,' resumed Mr Dyer, 'is a certain Alexander Henderson â usually known as old Sandy â lodge-keeper to Mr
  There was silence for several minutes. Dr Ransome was first to speak.
  'Wonderful!' he exclaimed. 'Perfectly amazing.'
  'How did Mr Hatch happen to come with the electricians?' asked Mr Fielding.
  'His father is manager of the company,' replied The Thinking Machine.
  'But what if there had been no Mr Hatch outside to help?'
  'Every prisoner has one friend outside who would help him escape if he could.'
  'Suppose â just suppose â there had been no old plumbing system there?' asked the warden, curiously.
  'There were two other ways out,' said The Thinking Machine, enigmatically.
  Ten minutes later the telephone bell rang. It was a request for the warden.
  'Light all right, eh?' the warden asked, through the 'phone. 'Good. Wire cut beside Cell 13? Yes, I know. One electrician too many? What's that? Two came out?'
  The warden turned to the others with a puzzled expression.
  'He only let in four electricians, he has let out two and says there are three left.'
  'I was the odd one,' said The Thinking Machine.
  'Oh,' said the warden. 'I see.' Then through the 'phone: 'Let the fifth man go. He's all right.'
Loveday Brooke
Created by Catherine Louisa Pirkis (1841 â 1910)
C ATHERINE LOUISA PIRKIS began writing fiction in the 1870s and the majority of her novels are melodramatic romances in the loose tradition established by Wilkie Collins and other 'sensation' novelists of the previous generation. The Experiences of Loveday Brooke , a collection of stories which first appeared in The Ludgate Monthly in 1893, was not only her only venture into the detective genre but also her last published fiction. In the mid-1890s, she gave up writing to devote her time to charitable work. She and her husband became leading activists in the anti-vivisection movement and in the National Canine Defence League, of which they had been founding members in 1891. Loveday Brooke is one of the earliest and most interesting of the female detectives of the period. A professional who works for a Fleet Street Detective Agency, she shows resourcefulness when she is sent under cover (as she is in several of the stories) and confidence in her own ability to discover the truth about the crimes she is investigating. The adventures in which she is embroiled often share some of the melodramatic plot contrivances common in the kind of novels Pirkis wrote in her earlier career but they remain well worth reading for their depictions of a woman making her way successfully in a world usually the preserve of men.
The Murder at Troyte's Hill
'G RIFFITHS, OF THE Newcastle Constabulary, has the case in hand,' said Mr Dyer; 'those Newcastle men are keen-witted, shrewd fellows, and very jealous of outside interference. They only sent to me under protest, as it were, because they wanted your sharp wits at work inside the house.'
  'I suppose throughout I am to work with Griffiths, not with you?' said Miss Brooke.
  'Yes; when I have given you in outline the facts of the case, I simply have nothing more to do with it, and you must depend on Griffiths for any assistance of any sort that you may require.'
  Here, with a swing, Mr Dyer opened his big ledger and turned rapidly over its leaves till he came to the heading 'Troyte's Hill' and the date 'September 6th'.
  'I'm all attention,' said Loveday, leaning back in her chair in the attitude of a listener.
  'The murdered man,' resumed Mr Dyer, 'is a certain Alexander Henderson â usually known as old Sandy â lodge-keeper to Mr
Similar Books
