Number Nineteen: Ben’s Last Case

Number Nineteen: Ben’s Last Case
J. Jefferson Farjeon

Ben the tramp’s uncanny knack of running into trouble is unsurpassed in the final crime thriller written for him by J. Jefferson Farjeon.On a grey afternoon he was destined never to forget, Ben sat down on a park seat and proceeded to think, not of cabbages and kings, but of numbers, lucky and unlucky. But it wasn’t Ben’s lucky day, or that of the nondescript-looking stranger sitting at the other end of the bench – murdered before his very eyes! That was the prelude to the most uncomfortable and eventful twenty-four hours Ben had ever spent in an uncomfortable and eventful life.J. Jefferson Farjeon’s famous Cockney character Ben, who first appeared in No.17 and six other novels, was never so richly humorous or so absurdly heroic as in this, his last hair-raising adventure taking place at No.19, Billiter Road.

J. JEFFERSON FARJEON

Number Nineteen

Copyright (#u81ed9a1f-b83a-5fe2-bfc1-4a91c0e66088)

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.

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Source ISBN: 9780008156060

Ebook Edition © August 2016 ISBN: 9780008156077

Version: 2016-06-28

Table of Contents

Cover (#u58678406-c148-5f3f-8220-d36afc4e0441)

Title Page (#u850b244f-56f5-5ff3-84d6-470d1bbfd8b8)

Copyright (#uc9831132-603f-5a61-90ae-8ecbefe0e950)

Chapter 1: Trouble on a Seat (#u14919c58-fe45-5e9f-b2df-421c087abc73)

Chapter 2: More Trouble on a Bed (#u29fe9df0-ea47-554a-951b-4b139e746b64)

Chapter 3: Mr Smith v. Mr Jones (#u574f6741-248a-5f98-b50d-631e7c56ee8f)

Chapter 4: Transformation Scene (#u3e488479-c0bb-54b1-bb2e-0b6113d96bda)

Chapter 5: Behind the Locked Door (#ubf72e618-5961-56a5-906a-23377ab5bd5d)

Chapter 6: Very Brief Respite (#u265bbb3d-02d7-5f16-8f94-c0bcb24b63f3)

Chapter 7: Conversation on a Doorstep (#u62d3ce50-a4ec-5e78-81b3-4a9e907e8342)

Chapter 8: The Thing (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9: Caller No. Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10: Conference on the Stairs (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11: Discoveries in the Dawn (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12: Ben Receives Instructions (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13: Cobwebs (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14: Overture to 10.30 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15: 10.30 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16: Where’s Mr Black? (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17: Lady No. Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18: Oasis (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19: Exchange of Information (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20: The Enemy Closes in (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21: The Locked Door (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 22: Beyond the Cellar (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 23: Who’s the Lady? (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 24: Ben Bounces (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 25: The Owl (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 26: Conference at Top Level (#litres_trial_promo)