The First R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK ®. R. Austin Freeman

      The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

      The Ghost Story Megapack

      The Second Ghost Story Megapack

      The Third Ghost Story Megapack

      The Haunts & Horrors Megapack

      The Horror Megapack

      The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

      The M.R. James Megapack

      The Macabre Megapack

      The Second Macabre Megapack

      The Arthur Machen Megapack**

      The Mummy Megapack

      The Occult Detective Megapack

      The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

      The Vampire Megapack

      The Weird Fiction Megapack

      The Werewolf Megapack

      WESTERNS

      The B.M. Bower Megapack

      The Max Brand Megapack

      The Buffalo Bill Megapack

      The Cowboy Megapack

      The Zane Grey Megapack

      The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

      The Western Megapack

      The Second Western Megapack

      YOUNG ADULT

      The Boys’ Adventure Megapack

      The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack

      The Dare Boys Megapack

      The Doll Story Megapack

      The G.A. Henty Megapack

      The Girl Detectives Megapack

      The E. Nesbit Megapack

      The Penny Parker Megapack

      The Pinocchio Megapack

      The Rover Boys Megapack

      The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack

      The Tom Swift Megapack

      The Wizard of Oz Megapack

      AUTHOR MEGAPACKS

      The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

      The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction Megapack

      The Edward Bellamy Megapack

      The B.M. Bower Megapack

      The E.F. Benson Megapack

      The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

      The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Megapack

      The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

      The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

      The Max Brand Megapack

      The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

      The Fredric Brown Megapack

      The Second Fredric Brown Megapack

      The Wilkie Collins Megapack

      The Ray Cummings Megapack

      The Guy de Maupassant Megapack

      The Philip K. Dick Megapack

      The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

      The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack

      The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

      The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

      The Randall Garrett Megapack

      The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

      The Anna Katharine Green Megapack

      The Zane Grey Megapack

      The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

      The Dashiell Hammett Megapack

      The C.J. Henderson Megapack

      The M.R. James Megapack

      The Selma Lagerlof Megapack

      The Murray Leinster Megapack***

      The Second Murray Leinster Megapack***

      The Arthur Machen Megapack**

      The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack

      The Talbot Mundy Megapack

      The E. Nesbit Megapack

      The Andre Norton Megapack

      The H. Beam Piper Megapack

      The Mack Reynolds Megapack

      The Rafael Sabatini Megapack

      The Saki Megapack

      The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

      The Robert Sheckley Megapack

      The Bram Stoker Megapack

      The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

      * Not available in the United States

      ** Not available in the European Union

      ***Out of print.

      OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY

      The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)

      The Wildside Book of Fantasy

      The Wildside Book of Science Fiction

      Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

      To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

      Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

      Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

      More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

      X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries

      THE RED THUMB MARK (1907) [part 1]

      PREFACE

      In writing the following story, the author has had in view no purpose other than that of affording entertainment to such read­ers as are interested in problems of crime and their solutions; and the story itself differs in no respect from others of its class, ex­cepting in that an effort has been made to keep within the probabilities of ordinary life, both in the characters and in the incidents.

      Nevertheless it may happen that the book may serve a useful purpose in drawing attention to certain popular misapprehensions on the subject of fingerprints and their evidential value; misapprehensions the extent of which may be judged when we learn from the newspapers that several Continental commercial houses have actually substituted fingerprints for signed initials.

      The facts and figures contained in Mr. Singleton’s evidence, including the very liberal estimate of the population of the globe, are, of course, taken from Mr. Galton’s great and important work on fingerprints; to which the reader who is interested in the subject is referred for much curious and valuable information.

      In conclusion, the author desires to express his thanks to his friend Mr. Bernard E. Bishop for the assistance rendered to him in certain photographic experiments, and to those officers of the Central Criminal Court who very kindly furnished him with de­tails of the procedure in criminal trials.

      CHAPTER I

      MY LEARNED BROTHER

      “Conflagratam An° 1677. Fabricatam An° 1698. Richardo Powell Armiger Thesaurar.”

      The words, set in four panels, which formed a frieze beneath the pediment of a fine brick portico, summarised the history of one of the tall houses at the upper end of King’s Bench