The Red-headed Man

Frank Darrel was a young man of twenty-five, with a sufficiency of good looks, and a comfortable income of five hundred a year. Also by way of employing his spare time, he was a...

On Monday morning Darrel lingered over his breakfast, considering the woful issue of his Saturday night's adventure. The alarm having been given by Bike, the cabman, the police...

Out of his pocket, Torry produced two little clay images in the shape of mummies, each six inches in length, and coloured a deep blue. The lifeless faces, the swathings and band...

Doing is better than dreaming; and a year of experience is worth a century of theorising. All his life Darrel had sat in his study laboriously weaving romances out of such mater...

"And hereby roused his suspicions," retorted Torry sharply. "Nothing of the sort. Main did not know what lay down the lane, so there was no need for the pair to purchase his sil...

"Send Mr. Vass to me," he said when the clerk appeared; then turning towards Torry, he added: "Mr. Grent's private secretary will be here in a few minutes, he will be able to an...

As may be guessed, the double tragedy caused a great sensation in London. That a respected banker should be murdered by an unknown woman, and she in her turn should be assassina...

The rooms which belonged to Jesse Grent were in Duke street, St. James's, and were very comfortably furnished, in a plain and unpretentious manner. Evidently the dead man had be...

The Spaniard was even darker than is usual with people of his race; also he had an eagle nose and hair very straight, glossy and black. His eyes were large and brilliant, his mo...

Wray House was a charming villa on the banks of the Thames. The view of the mansion from the river was singularly picturesque. From the banks a smooth green lawn of closely shor...

When Torry stated so coldly that Julia Braw was dead, Donna Maria turned pale, trembled violently, and would have fallen but that Darrel, noticing her fainting condition, sprang...

Although Torry doubted the truth of Donna Maria's answer he was too clever to let his face and tongue betray him. To contradict so high-spirited a woman would be to reduce her t...

Having garnered all obtainable evidence, for the time being at Wray House; the detective and his coadjutor returned to town. Before their departure, however, Blake noted the add...

Frank was amazed by the look on Blake's face. He was quite livid, and an expression of horror was in his eyes. His brow was wet with perspiration, his strong frame trembled, and...

It cannot be said that Torry had been particularly lucky hitherto in elucidating the mystery of the double tragedy. Certainly he had collected a quantity of evidence, but none l...

Here, then, was a new complication, and one entirely unforeseen. The dead man, false to his reputed character for uprightness and loyalty to his wife, had been in love with Lydi...

It was with a triumphant smile on her lips that Lydia heard what Maria said about the ring and visit. When Torry was assured of the truth, she spoke to him with composure and so...

Educated by experience and the necessities of his profession, Torry was not a man who lost his temper easily; but when he left Wray House he was in as great a rage as he well co...

Decidedly, this case was full of surprises; and Torry, with all his life-long experience, could recall no affair in connection with which so many unexpected things had happened....

If Torry had found that Donna Maria was an obstinate woman he speedily discovered that Mr. Leighbourne was a fool. Old, narrow-minded, and egotistical, the banker was one of tho...

For once in his life Torry was dumbfounded. He sat with staring eyes, his mouth open, and his face red, gasping like a fish out of water. Of all the names connected with the Gre...

The information was so unexpected and terrible that Frank felt the blood leave his cheeks. Pale as a ghost, he rose from his chair, and looked at Donna Maria with dilated eyes....

Here was a discovery. Of all men Torry had least suspected Vass, as he had doubted the courage and nerve of so effeminate a creature. Yet if according to the evidence of the loc...

Vass paused before answering this question and drank some more water. Now that he had commenced his confession he was much more at his ease, and seemed disposed to tell all he h...

Startled by this intelligence, Frank hastily took the open letter which Torry handed to him. It was written, or rather hand-printed, on a small sheet of notepaper, and read as f...

So the last man in the world whom Torry suspected turned out to be the criminal. Blake was arrested, brought up before a magistrate, and on the evidence given by Vass, committed...