Ben on the Job

Ben on the Job
J. Jefferson Farjeon

Ben the tramp, with his usual genius for trouble, runs into danger when he finds a dead body and decides to help out.Ben knew that whenever his thumbs were itching, something ‘orrible’ was about to happen. Sure enough, on one foggy afternoon of itchy thumbs, the hapless Ben is implicated in criminal activity by the police – the kind of mistake it isn’t easy to explain. Doing a runner, Ben hides in the basement of a deserted house, where he discovers the body of a well-dressed man, shot through the head . . . and much more trouble than he bargained for.The subsequent hair-raising events are charged with all the mounting excitement that made J. Jefferson Farjeon a peerless storyteller and Ben one of the most popular but unorthodox amateur detectives of his day.

J. JEFFERSON FARJEON

Ben on the Job

Copyright (#uddba87fc-3466-5a18-9ee7-58240c72f4cc)

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 for Crime Club by W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1952

Copyright © Estate of J. Jefferson Farjeon 1952

Cover design by Mike Topping © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016

Cover background images © shutterstock.com (http://shutterstock.com)

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: 9780008156039

Ebook Edition © August 2016 ISBN: 9780008156046

Version: 2016-06-14

Table of Contents

Cover (#u17e45dfa-0254-567a-9c2a-36782538dd81)

Title Page (#uc79ae00b-07d3-5949-aa63-1373c6a146b4)

Copyright (#uda79b622-1b90-5a5c-9bfd-de439b96c8ea)

Chapter 1: Misbehaviour of Two Thumbs (#u14e58c8e-f3a6-599d-aad4-6fbf8df1cdce)

Chapter 2: Strange Partnership (#u417ac4f1-0c87-56d4-971e-a1d9cb21a3a0)

Chapter 3: Step by Step (#u717200f6-7f4b-5f37-9e72-efa1b2451d54)

Chapter 4: The Lady of the Picture (#u52957e9f-7bab-56f6-8ecd-7380a988679a)

Chapter 5: Ben Gets a Job (#ub1cf0268-c706-5d9b-ae1f-534161e0d22e)

Chapter 6: The Kentons at Home (#uae569e0c-bfa7-52d4-8e88-1414a5f80525)

Chapter 7: Conversation on a Doorstep (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8: Vanishing Act (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9: Ben V. Maudie (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10: Concerning Two Others (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11: Start of a Bad Day (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12: Waiting for Maudie (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13: Parlour Tricks (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14: Back in Drewet Road (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15: Mrs Wilby Talks (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16: Face to Face (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17: What Happened at Euston (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18: Two in a Train (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19: Conference Over Coffee (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20: Re-Enter Blake (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21: Ben Listens to the Impossible (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 22: The Truth at Last (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 23: Completion of the Job (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading … (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also in This Series (#litres_trial_promo)