
In the quiet of a Surrey farmhouse, a young former RAF officer turned electrical engineer begins to recount a bewildering episode that thrust him from routine office work into a tangled web of deception. Hugh Garfield, fresh from the war and freshly inherited modest wealth, shares how a seemingly ordinary business appointment in London spirals into a baffling series of events that involve secret societies, suspicious foreign trade, and a startling death that haunts his family.
The narrative unfolds as Hugh, together with his wartime comrade‑turned‑solicitor Henry Hambledon, navigates a maze of hidden motives and unexpected alliances that threaten to upend their respectable lives. As the first act progresses, the pair find themselves drawn into a plot that tests their loyalty, ingenuity, and the very notion of what they thought they knew about post‑war Britain.
Language
en
Duration
~8 hours (473K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2008-11-04
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1864–1927
A hugely popular early master of spy fiction, he turned fears of invasion and international intrigue into fast-moving stories that gripped readers before the First World War. His books helped shape the mood of his age, mixing journalism, suspense, and a flair for dramatic danger.
View all books