Lord Lister No. 0028: De koning van de club

In the glittering streets of turn‑of‑the‑century New York, a baffling string of burglaries has the city’s wealthiest trembling. Every night a well‑heeled host awakens to find his safe cracked open, its contents strewn across the floor, yet not a single coin or jewel is taken. Newspapers label the culprit a phantom, and seasoned detectives struggle to explain why anyone would commit such a meticulous intrusion without profit.

The pattern is too regular to be random: each crime follows a soirée, suggesting the thief is already inside the party, moving unseen among the guests. Veteran investigators Newton and his sharp‑eyed inspector Harkel debate whether the perpetrator is a deranged eccentric or a cunning mastermind hiding a deeper purpose. Their curiosity deepens when James Stamford, a nervous president of an insurance firm that protects against theft, arrives with a personal plea, hinting that the stakes may be far higher than mere embarrassment.