Saint in New York
Authors: Leslie Charteris
By Leslie Charteris
FICTION PUBLISHING COMPANY
•
NEW
YORK
Copyright
1934, 1935 by Leslie Charteris. Published by arrangement
with
Doubleday and Company, Inc. Printed in U.S.A.
AUTHOR’S
FOREWORD
I
couldn’t, even if I wanted to,
pretend that this novel
came of my typewriter yesterday. I am
notoriously not
a writer of historical stories, except those
which have ac
quired that aura simply by being around so
long; and the
date of this one is implicit from the first
pages of the first
chapter.
It was conceived, and worked out, during the
latter
days of Prohibition in America, that Noble Experiment
which ended in 1933
—
which the most simple arithmetic
shows to
have been a fair while ago. And no revision,
even if I wanted to
attempt one, could possibly transfer it
to a later day.
So I can only hope that all those readers who
were not
even born when it happened will accept the background,
which is
actually about as authentic as any fictional back
ground can
be. I can vouch for this, because I was there,
antique as I am. I
don’t say that the plot had any factual
foundation, as many
of my plots have. But the kind of
activities, the
places, and the people who frequented
them, are not nearly
as far-fetched as they may seem today. In fact, more than one of them really
lived then,
and might be recognized by a few old-timers through his
thin
disguise.
Prologue
The letter was delivered to the Correspondence
Bureau
in Centre Street. It passed, as a matter of routine, through the
Criminal
Identification Bureau, the Criminal Alien Investi
gation Bureau, and
the Main Office Division. And in the end
it was laid on the
desk of Police Commissioner Arthur J. Quistrom
himself—it was a
remarkable document by any standards,
and even the studiously commonplace
prose of its author
could not make it uninteresting.
METROPOLITAN POLICE, SPECIAL BRANCH,
SCOTLAND HOUSE, LONDON, S.W.I.
Police
Commissioner, New York City.
Dear Sir:
We have to inform you that there are reasons to believe
that SIMON
TEMPLAR, known as “The Saint,” is at present
in the
United States.
No fingerprints are available; but a photograph, descrip
tion, and
record are enclosed.
As you will see from the record, we have no grounds on
which to
institute extradition proceedings; but it would be
advisable
for you, in your own interests, to observe Templar’s
activities carefully if you are
successful in locating him.
Faithfully yours,
C. E. Teal, Chief Inspector.
The first enclosure came under the same letterhead:
SIMON
TEMPLAR
(“The Saint”).
DESCRIPTION:
Age 31. Height 6 ft. 2 ins. Weight 175 l
bs. Eyes
blue. Hair black, brushed straight back. Com
plexion tanned.
Bullet scar through upper left shoulder;
8-in. scar right
forearm.
SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Always immaculately
dressed.
Luxurious tastes. Lives in most expensive hotels
and is
connoisseur of food and wine. Carries firearms
and is expert knife
thrower. Licensed air pilot. Speaks
several languages
fluently. Known as “The Saint” from
habit of leaving
drawing of skeleton figure with halo on
scenes of crimes
(specimen reproduced below).
RECORD:
First came to our attention five years ago as unofficial
agent
concerned, with recovery of quantity of bullion stolen from Confederate Bank of
Chicago and trans
ported to this country. Was successful and
claimed
reward,
leaving arrest of thieves to our own agent, In
spector
Carn.
For some
time afterwards, with assistance of four
accomplices,
became self-appointed agent for terrorizing
criminals against whom we had been unable to secure evidence justifying
arrest. Real identity at this time re
mained
a mystery. Activities chiefly directed against vice.
Was instrumental in obtaining arrest and
conviction of
leaders of powerful
drug ring. Believed to have instigated
murder
of Henri Chastel, white slave trafficker, in
Athens, at same period.
Admitted killing of Golter, an
archist, in
frustrating attempted assassination of Crown
Prince Rudolf during state visit to London, following
year.
Kidnapped Professor K. S. Vargan while War Office
was
considering purchase of Vargan’s “electron cloud.”
Vargan was later killed by
Norman Kent, member of Templar’s gang, Kent himself being killed by Dr. Rayt
Marius, foreign secret service agent also trying
to secure
Vargan’s invention. Motive,
established by Templar’s sub
sequent
letter published in the press, was alleged to be
prevention of use in threatened war of what Templar
thought to be inhuman method of slaughter. Both
Tem
plar and Marius escaped and left
England.
Three months later Templar reappeared in England
in
connection with second plot organized by Marius to
promote
war, which was unknown to ourselves. Marius
finally escaped again
and is now believed to be dead; but
intrigue was exposed and Templar received
free pardon
for frustrating attempt to wreck
Royal train.
Subsequently continued campaign of fighting crime by
criminal
methods. Obtained evidence in several cases and
secured arrests; also
believed, without proof, to have
caused deaths of
Francis Lemuel, vice trader, Jack Farnberg
, gunman, Ladek
Kuzela, and others. Suspicion also
exists in murder of
Stephen Weald, alias Waldstein, and disappearance of Lord Essenden, during
period when
Templar was working to clear reputation of the late As
sistant Commissioner Sir
Francis Trelawney, under direct
authority of
present Chief Commissioner Sir Hamilton
Dorn.
Activities continued, until he left England again six
months
ago.
Most of the exploits mentioned above, as well as many
others of
which for obvious reasons we have no defi
nite knowledge, have
also been financially profitable;
and Templar’s fortune,
acquired by these means, has been
credibly estimated at £500,000.
Is also well known to police of France and Germany.
The photograph followed; and at the end of
the sheaf were clipped on the brief reports of the departments through which
the
information had already been passed:
BUREAU OF CRIMINAL IDENTIFICATION:
N
o
record.
Copies of photograph and description for
warded to
Albany and Washington.
BUREAU OF CRIMINAL ALIEN INVESTIGATION:
Inquiries proceeding.
MAIN OFFICE DIVISION:
Inquiries proceeding.
The commissioner put up a hand and scratched
his grey
head. He read the letter through a second time, with his
bushy
eyebrows drawn down in a frown that wrinkled the
bridge of his nose. His faded grey-blue
eyes had flabby pouches
under them, like
blisters that have been drained without
breaking the skin; and his face was lined with the same weari
ness. A grim, embittered soul weariness that was
his reward
for forty years of the
futile battle with lawlessness—a law
lessness
that walked arm in arm with those who were supposed
to uphold the law.
“You think this may have something to do
with the letter that was sent to Irboll?” he said, when he had finished
the
second
reading.
Inspector John Fernack pushed back his
battered hat and nodded—a curt, phlegmatic jerk of his head. He stabbed at
another
paper on the commissioner’s desk with a square
stubby forefinger.
“I’m guessing that way. See the monicker
Scotland Yard
says this guy goes under? The Saint, it says. Well, look
at this
drawing. I’m not much on art, and it looks to me like this guy
Templar
ain’t so hot, either; but the idea’s there. See that fig
ger. The sort of thing kids
draw when they first get hold of a
pencil—just
a circle for a head, and a straight line for the body and four more for the
arms and legs, but you can see
it’s
meant to be sumpn human. An’ another circle floating on
top of the head. When I was a kid I got took to a
cathedral,
once,” said Fernack, as if he were confessing some dark
blot
on bis professional career, an’ there
were a lot of paintings
of people with circles round their heads. They
were saints, or
sumpn; and those circles
was supposed to be haloes.” The com
missioner did not smile.