The Cask

The Cask
Freeman Wills Crofts

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the seminal first novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’ and recognised as one of the ‘big four’ Golden Age crime authors.The unloading of a consignment of French wine from the steamship Bullfinch is interrupted by a gruesome discovery in a broken cask leaking sawdust and gold sovereigns. But when the shipping clerk returns with the police, the cask and its macabre contents have gone. Following the clues to Paris, Inspector Burnley of Scotland Yard enlists the help of the genial French detective M. Lefarge to check motives and alibis in their hunt for evidence of a particularly fiendish murder.This Detective Story Club classic is introduced by Freeman Wills Crofts himself in a unique preface from 1946 about The Cask’s origins.

Copyright (#u3807f2c1-88a7-5ec7-b1ca-caba78043e10)

Published by COLLINS CRIME CLUB

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

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 1921, 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: 9780008190521

Ebook Edition © September 2016 ISBN: 9780008190538

Version: 2016-08-09

Dedication (#u3807f2c1-88a7-5ec7-b1ca-caba78043e10)

TO

DR ADAM A. C. MATHERS,

IN APPRECIATION OF HIS KINDLY

CRITICISM AND HELP

Table of Contents

Cover (#ud977c632-227f-5b8f-a7f5-f58038c8c997)

Title Page (#uc0f3ed3b-7d89-5a77-98fd-11ea05a06768)

Copyright (#u1a0937c6-477c-5312-aedb-2fef5e96bc5b)

Dedication (#u0c5f0140-77c2-551c-be30-56dae654de4c)

Introduction (#ubd3f05ff-66cd-5da1-8782-d3de5b5aa795)

Part I: London (#u61cfd378-f879-5c8f-b5e4-d5f80863d8fa)

Chapter I: A STRANGE CONSIGNMENT (#u0e747740-814d-5fa5-83fb-81227bf1db66)

Chapter II: Inspector Burnley on the Track (#uf034e499-2aed-56c8-a1ac-1bfac6f680d0)

Chapter III: The Watcher on the Wall (#uc3fa3692-366c-5fe2-a36f-002d7b0009ee)

Chapter IV: A Midnight Interview (#uad443926-d5fd-5f46-ad15-a62fcc1ef5f0)

Chapter V: Felix Tells a Story (#ud4575bc9-0752-50c3-a86d-e8f35c06a648)

Chapter VI: The Art of Detection (#ufc6717d4-9fb5-50af-9dd2-f047b5e82f40)

Chapter VII: The Cask at Last (#ua5cfb302-9df8-513d-9c1e-1986533d465d)

Chapter VIII: The Opening of the Cask (#litres_trial_promo)

Part II: Paris (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter IX: M. le Chef de la Sûreté (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter X: Who Wrote the Letter? (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter XI: Mm. Dupierre et Cie (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter XII: At the Gare St Lazare (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter XIII: The Owner of the Dress (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter XIV: M. Boirac Makes a Statement (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter XV: The House in the Avenue de l’Alma (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter XVI: Inspector Burnley Up Against It (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter XVII: A Council of War (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter XVIII: Lefarge Hunts Alone (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter XIX: The Testing of an Alibi (#litres_trial_promo)