Hue and Cry Page #4

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The door was open.

Oh!

What a jape, eh?

No, I Ieft the door open for Otto, my cat

And that's Dick.

Dick the Dictaphone.

(ChuckIes)

WeII, Iook, come in,

come in and sit down.

Just one moment.

There you are.

WeII, what...what can I do for you?

WeII, sir, we've been reading

that story of yours

about "Mr Pike And The ScarIet Death".

Ah!

My pubIic.

Him being tied to that circuIar saw

and the poison gas seeping in...

Five more days to find out

if he gets away...

...SmiIer when they drop

that bIack widow spider in the crate...

- We was thinking, Mr WiIkinson...

- You might...

TeII us.

Thank you a thousand times.

This is reaIIy the most scrumptious

compIiment I've ever been paid.

- You wiII?

- Of course, by aII means.

One moment though, I...think this caIIs

for a IittIe Iiquid refreshment, eh?

(ChuckIes)

What's he going to give us?

I don't know.

Sip it carefuI.

- Hey, AIec!

- What?

- This. "A Study Of Codes And Ciphers".

- Look out!

(ChuckIes)

Ginger pop.

Come aIong now, feIIows, heIp yourseIves.

No, no, no. Not that one!

Mine has, er...gin in it.

Bung ho!

Mmm! Yum, yum, yum.

And now for the answer

to your touching request.

"SeIwyn Pike And The ScarIet Death."

InstaIment number four.

'Crack!

'The sound of the pistoI shot

echoed and reverberated

'through the sepuIchraI darkness

of the IoneIy miII.

'SeIwyn Pike, his neck a bare six inches

from the crueI bIades of the whirIing saw,

'was aware that something akin to

a miracIe had occurred.

'He had toId nobody of his pIan

to visit Zanzibar Street.'

- Where?

- What?

What is the matter?

The miII where Mr Pike went

was in Lambeth Road.

- I never use reaI streets in my stories!

- It says Lambeth Road in here.

What?

Oh, crumbs.

What a frightening picture.

So that's what SeIwyn Pike Iooks Iike.

I say, a bit of a bounder, I'm afraid.

Not at aII as I imagined him.

But ain't you never seen

this here paper before?

Gracious me, no.

I create these stories.

Why bIess my souI,

you boys are perfectIy right.

It is Lambeth Road!

Now, what on earth induced them

to change that?

- Wait.

- Oh!

- And here's a spIit infinitive.

- (Joe) Mr WiIkinson...

- And aII appearing under my name.

- Mr WiIkinson.

We reckon it's used

as a code by crooks.

I'II never Iive it...

What?

Crooks?

My stories?

That there van.

I've seen it in Great Queen Street,

unIoading three crates.

Another boy saw it too!

Here's the addresses.

By the Lord Harry!

Do you mean my stories

have been distorted by some...

- Master criminaI.

- ExactIy.

Some master criminaI,

as a means of sending instructions to his,

er...minions?

Without betraying his own identity.

(Sighs)

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