The Mystery at Stowe. Vernon Loder

      

      Published by COLLINS CRIME CLUB

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by Wm Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1928

      Published by The Detective Story Club Ltd 1929

      Introduction © Nigel Moss 2016

      Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1929, 2016

      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.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780008137489

      Ebook Edition © March 2016 ISBN: 9780008137496

      Version: 2015-11-24

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Introduction

       Editor’s Preface

       Chapter I: Wheels Within Wheels

       Chapter II: What the Morning Brought

       Chapter III: The Dressing-Gown

       Chapter IV: A Curious Thing

       Chapter V: The Fingerprints

       Chapter VI: Fisher Lays a Trap

      

       Chapter VII: A Stranger in Red

      

       Chapter VIII: Mr Carton Intrudes

      

       Chapter IX: The Husband

      

       Chapter X: Did Tollard Love His Wife?

      

       Chapter XI: Suppressions

      

       Chapter XII: Carton Is Dissatisfied

      

       Chapter XIII: Who Was It?

      

       Chapter XIV: An Open Mind

      

       Chapter XV: The Eyes of Mr Jorkins

      

       Chapter XVI: The Scratch

      

       Chapter XVII: Tollard Makes a Scene

      

       Chapter XVIII: The Dart

      

       Chapter XIX: The Locked Door

      

       Chapter XX: Speculations of a Kind

      

       Chapter XXI: The Ladder

      

       Chapter XXII: The Arrow That Flyeth by Night

      

       Chapter XXIII: A Bit of Fluff

      

       Chapter XXIV: Elaine Is Stubborn

      

       Chapter XXV: Carton V. Tollard

      

       Chapter XXVI: Superintendent Fisher Wants the Ladder

      

       Chapter XXVII: The Luck of the Ladder

      

       Chapter XXVIII: The Brooding Silence

      

       Chapter XXIX: A Joint Expedition

      

       The Detective Story Club