Over and Out Read online

  ‘No “K” for Fleming,’ said Luke happily.

  ‘Some of the backlash has hit our chambers. The powers-that-be thought that rubbishing their main witness was unfair. Hitting below the belt, one of them called it.’

  ‘Nonsense. Whinging because they lost.’

  ‘Maybe. But the result is that we’re unlikely, for the time being anyway, to get much government work, prosecutions or defences. However, that’s only one side of the coin. It’s clear we’re going to get a lot of trades union jobs. Members of the Metal Workers and the Iron Founders have already given us work. And there’ll be more.’

  ‘What sort of work?’

  ‘Nothing dramatic. No murders or treasons. Small civil cases, the bread and butter of a successful practice. Which reminds me of something I wanted to say to you. One of the subjects you choose for your Bar Final must be Landlord and Tenant.’

  ‘Sounds dull.’

  ‘At the moment it’s the most important part of the law. Early in the war it became clear that people wanting rented accommodation vastly exceeded the accommodation available. Which led to landlords raising rents to an astronomical figure, and threatening to turn the tenants out when they couldn’t find the money. Which led to the first of the Rent Restriction Acts which protected the tenants. That’s the field to be ploughed.’

  ‘If you say so,’ said Luke. ‘It sounds a bit dull.’

  Chapter Twenty

  ‘The vital thing,’ said Sheilagh, ‘is to show that your client was the sole tenant of the premises. That’s what turns his accommodation, however humble, into a “dwelling house”. But if he shares any essential part of it with a third party he loses the protection of the Acts. That’s what all the cases are about.’

  ‘Excellent,’ said Luke, helping himself to another slice of toast. ‘Let’s run over them once more.’

  ‘The sharing of bathroom and lavatory is dealt with in Cole against Harris. Kitchens are Winters against Dance.’

  ‘Right. Could you push the marmalade across.’

  ‘Sculleries are Flowerdew and Porter.’

  They were sitting in the tiny drawing-room-cum-dining-room-cum-everything-else-room in a top-storey flat in Russia Lane that Tom had got for them and the Rent Acts had enabled them to keep.

  He said, ‘You’re looking terribly attractive this morning.’

  ‘In Mancroft and Dulakis the use of a communal garage was not held to be decisive.’

  ‘I should think not, indeed. It’s a pity you can’t always wear those pyjamas.’

  ‘In Hayward and Horler—’

  ‘Girls’ pyjamas look all wrong, somehow. Too much frilly lace and fancy work. Those are quite different. They look like a boy’s.’

  ‘My brother gave them to me.’

  ‘Had he grown out of them?’

  ‘He’d taken to wearing a night-gown. No. Go on with your breakfast.’

  Luke had been married for nearly two years, but he still found Sheilagh physically so desirable that he sometimes wondered if he was normal. He found it impossible to regard her with that cool detachment that most of his married friends affected.

  ‘Stop it,’ said Sheilagh again. ‘You’ll be late in chambers.’

  ‘OK. Where’s my brief-case?’

  ‘In the bathroom.’

  ‘Cole and Harris.’

  He gave his wife a final kiss, unlatched the door, and walked down the linoleum-covered stairs and out into Russia Lane. Over against him loomed the barrack-like walls of the Consequential Life and Accident Insurance Company.

  He was entirely happy.

  He would appear in a cause célèbre. He would make a lot of money. He would have a large family.

  As he walked up Russia Lane towards High Holborn the future unrolled ahead of him, spangled with a million stars and bright with hope.

  Michael Gilbert Titles in order of first publication

  All Series titles can be read in order, or randomly as standalone novels

  Inspector Hazlerigg

  Close Quarters (1947)

  They Never Looked Inside (alt: He Didn’t Mind Danger) (1948)

  The Doors Open (1949)

  Smallbone Deceased (1950)

  Death has Deep Roots (1951)

  Fear To Tread (in part)(1953)

  The Young Petrella (included) (short stories)(1988)

  The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries (included) (short stories)(1997)

  Patrick Petrella

  Blood and Judgement (1959)

  Amateur in Violence (included) (short stories) (1973)

  Petrella at Q (short stories) (1977)

  The Young Petrella (short stories) (1988)

  Roller Coaster (1993)

  The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries (included) (short stories) (1997)

  Luke Pagan

  Ring of Terror (1995)

  Into Battle (1997)

  Over and Out (1998)

  Calder & Behrens

  Game Without Rules (short stories) (1967)

  Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens (short stories) (1982)

  Non-Series

  Death in Captivity (alt: The Danger Within) (1952)

  Sky High (alt: The Country House Burglar) (1955)

  Be Shot for Sixpence (1956)

  After the Fine Weather (1963)

  The Crack in the Teacup (1966)

  The Dust and the Heat (alt: Overdrive) (1967)

  The Etruscan Net (alt: The Family Tomb) (1969)

  Stay of Execution and Other Stories (short stories) (1971)

  The Body of a Girl (1972)

  The Ninety-Second Tiger (1973)

  Flash Point (1974)

  The Night of the Twelfth (1976)

  The Empty House (1979)

  The Killing of Katie Steelstock (alt: Death of a Favourite Girl) (1980)

  The Final Throw (alt: End Game) (1982)

  The Black Seraphim (1984)

  The Long Journey Home (1985)

  Trouble (1987)

  Paint, Gold, and Blood (1989)

  Anything for a Quiet Life (short stories) (1990)

  The Queen against Karl Mullen (1992)

  Synopses (Both Series & ‘Stand-alone’ Titles)

  Published by House of Stratus

  After The Fine Weather

  When Laura Hart travels to Austria to visit her brother, vice-consul of Lienz in the Tyrol, she briefly meets an American who warns her of the mounting political tension. Neo-Nazis are stirring trouble in the province, and xenophobia is rife between the Austrians who control the area and the Italian locals. Then Laura experiences the troubles first-hand, a shocking incident that suggests Hofrat Humbold, leader of the Lienz government is using some heavy-handed tactics. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he is unwilling to let one little English girl destroy his plans for the largest Nazi move since the war, and Laura makes a dangerous enemy.

  Anything For A Quiet Life

  Jonas Pickett, lawyer and commissioner of oaths is nearing retirement, but still has lots of energy. However, he leaves the pressure of a London practice behind to set up a new modest office in a quiet seaside resort. He soon finds that he is overwhelmed with clients and some of them involve him in very odd and sometimes dangerous cases. This collection of inter-linked stories tells how these are brought to a conclusion; ranging from an incredible courtroom drama involving a gipsy queen to terrorist thugs who make their demands at gunpoint.

  Be Shot For Sixpence

  A gripping spy thriller with a deserved reputation. Philip sees an announcement in The Times from an old school friend who has instructed the newspaper to publish only if they don’t hear from him. This sets a trail running through Europe, with much of the action taking place on the Austro-Hungarian border. The Kremlin, defectors, agitators and the People’s Court set the background to a very realistic story that could well have happened …

  The Black Seraphim

  James Scotland, a young pathologist, decides on a quiet holiday in Melchester, but amid the ca
thedral town’s quiet medieval atmosphere, he finds a hornet’s nest of church politics, town and country rivalries, and murder. He is called upon to investigate and finds that some very curious alliances between the church, state and business exist. With modern forensic pathology he unravels the unvarnished truth about Melchester, but not before a spot of unexpected romance intervenes.

  Blood & Judgement

  When the wife of a recently escaped prisoner is found murdered and partially buried near a reservoir, Patrick Petrella, a Metropolitan Police Inspector, is called in. Suspicion falls on the escaped convict, but what could have been his motive? Petrella meets resistance from top detectives at the Yard who would prefer to keep the inspector out of the limelight, but he is determined to solve the mystery with or without their approval.

  The Body Of A Girl

  Detective Chief Inspector Mercer is called to the scene when a skeleton of a girl is found on Westlaugh Island in the upper reaches of the River Thames. What appears to be a straightforward and routine investigation, however, leads to unexpected events and a string of unlikely characters, including a lawyer and a one armed garage proprietor. Nothing seems to fit together and it seems the sleepy town holds many secrets. The finale involves two nights of dramatic violence and it isn’t until this stage is reached that the twisted truth finally emerges.

  Close Quarters

  It has been more than a year since Cannon Whyte fell 103 feet from the cathedral gallery, yet unease still casts a shadow over the peaceful lives of the Close’s inhabitants. In an apparently separate incident, head verger Appledown is being persecuted: a spate of anonymous letters and random acts of vandalism imply that he is inefficient and immoral. But then the notes turn threatening, and when Appledown is found dead, Inspector Hazlerigg is called in. Investigations suggest that someone directly connected to the cathedral is responsible, and it is up to Hazlerigg to get to the heart of the corruption.

  The Crack In The Teacup

  Barhaven is on the south coast within commuting distance from London. It is, however, a fairly sleepy place and it seems incredulous that it could be the kind of town where the local councillors could manage to line their own pockets. However, there is something odd about the borough engineers behaviour, and it seems strange that the owner of the local amusement park is unknown, and the Town Clerk himself is acting peculiarly. Enter a young lawyer, who finds himself at the centre of a major campaign against racketeering. The public and the press become involved and it ends with a twist that is totally unexpected.

  Death Has Deep Roots

  This is a detective and trial story with a complicated plot that will grip the reader. Victoria Lamartine is on trial for the murder of her supposed lover, whom she is accused of having stabbed. There are only five suspects including Lamartine. But evidence that doesn’t fit the police theory of the crime has been ignored, whilst all of the damming evidence is presented in isolation. Intriguingly, whilst the murder was committed in England, all of the suspects somehow have a past connection with France and its wartime underground. However, there now appears to be links to gold smuggling and it is not immediately clear how all of the different pieces of evidence fit together. As always, Gilbert neatly takes the reader to a satisfying final twist and conclusion.

  Death In Captivity

  A suspected informer is found dead in a collapsed section of an escape tunnel being dug in a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy. So as to protect the tunnel the prisoners decide to move the body to another that has already been abandoned. But then the fascist captors declare the death to be murder and determine to investigate and execute the officer they suspect was responsible. It therefore becomes a race against time to find the true culprit and Captain Henry "Cuckoo" Goyles, a former headmaster, master tunneller and sometime amateur detective takes on the case.

  The Doors Open

  One night on a commuter train, Paddy Yeatman-Carter sees a man attempting suicide. Intervening, he prevents the man from going through with it. However, the very next day the same man is found dead, and Paddy believes the circumstances to be extremely suspicious. Roping in his friend and lawyer, Nap Rumbold, he determines to discover the truth. They become increasingly suspicious of the dead man’s employers: the Stalagmite Insurance Company, who appear to hire some very dangerous staff.

  The Dust And The Heat

  Oliver Nugent is a young Armoured Corps officer in the year 1945. Taking on a near derelict pharmaceutical firm, he determines to rebuild it and make it a success. He encounters some ruthless opposition, and counteracts with some fairly unscrupulous methods of his own. It seems no one is above blackmail and all is deemed fair in big business battles. Then a threat: apparently from German sources it alludes to a time when Oliver was in charge of an SS camp, jeopardizing his company and all that he has worked for.

  The Empty House

  Dr. Alexander Wolfe, a top genetic scientist – a key figure in British Biological Warfare Research – seemingly plunges over a cliff in his car. His body is never recovered and it emerges his life was recently insured for a considerable sum. Accordingly, Peter Manciple, an insurance loss adjuster from a fairly cautious firm, is sent to investigate. There is romance, possible gang involvement in arson, and a potential job offer in store as Peter sets out to find out if Wolfe is really dead in a most dangerous and complicated mission.

  The End Game

  The London Regional Crime Squad, is trying to nail a financial empire involved with organised crime and drug smuggling. David Morgan goes undercover and is hired by a travel company to act as a tour guide around Europe, but is in fact being used as a drug mule. Eventually, he also finds himself posing as a homeless vagrant in order to track down a former employee of the financial empire who knows of the whereabouts of incriminating documents. This is a ‘Snakes and Ladders’ operation with twists and which ranges from London to Florence.

  The Etruscan Net

  Robert Broke runs a small gallery on the Via de Benci and is an authority on Etruscan terracotta. A man who keeps himself to himself, he is the last person to become mixed up in anything risky. But when two men arrive in Florence, Broke’s world turns upside down as he becomes involved in a ring of spies, the mafiosi and fraud involving Etruscan antiques. When he finds himself in prison on a charge of manslaughter, the net appears to be closing in rapidly, and Broke must fight for his innocence and his life.

  Fear To Tread

  The story of how Mr. Weatherall, the headmaster of a school, but otherwise an ordinary man, was introduced to a huge nationwide black market operation. It seems that anything goes so as to ensure profits and the continuance of the fraud in what amounts to crime on a vast and organised scale. Moreover, was the victim run over by a train before, or after, he died? And can Mr. Weatherall succeed in getting to the heart of the matter in a one man battle against such odds?

  Flashpoint

  Will Dylan is an electoral favourite – intelligent, sharp and good-looking, he is the government’s new golden boy. Jonas Killey is a small-time lawyer – determined, uncompromising and obsessed, he is hounding Dylan in the hope of bringing him into disrepute. Believing he has information that can connect Dylan with an illegal procedure during a trade union merger, he starts to spread the word, provoking a top-level fluttering. At the crucial time of a general election, no government can afford bad press. Jonas suddenly finds himself pursued by those who want to keep him quiet, but he is determined that the truth will be heard.

  Game Without Rules

  Mr. Calder lived with a golden deerhound named Rasselas in a cottage in Kent. Mr. Behrens lives with his aunt and keeps bees. No one would in the least suspect that the pair are in fact agents for the British Joint Services Standing Committee and they are often tasked with jobs that no one else can take on – simply because of the extreme nature of the action needed. They are dangerous – and they are watched. Their adventures in this series of thrillers show the author to have a clear grasp of counterintelligence operations. Writ
ten with Gilbert’s usual dry wit, panache and style, the suspense is at times killing!

  Into Battle

  Luke Pagan is stationed in Portsmouth to keep an eye on Zeppelin flights. He discovers a British Naval officer doing exactly the same. Seemingly, there is a German spy ring operating with a view to directing the Zeppelins so they can keep an eye on the British fleet, although at this time its identity is unknown. Moreover, at the start of World War I, two ships are blown up and the head of counterintelligence orders Luke to carry out surveillance on the suspected British Officer. This in turn leads to the uncovering of an Irish terrorist plot bent on throwing off British rule by any means possible. The Irish have infiltrated the dockyard. It is clear there is an international conspiracy at work which turns out to be run by a German: Krieger. Luke finds himself in a race against time to identify all of the espionage and terrorist activities – or risk Britain losing the war.

  The Killing Of Katie Steelstock

  Written as a police procedural in the best traditions of the ‘Golden Age’ writers. Certainly one of Michael Gilberts finest in this particular sphere. A TV actress is murdered and it would seem that the alleged perpetrator has been framed. As the investigation progresses and evidence mounts the reader is not fooled into taking the wrong path and coming to an incorrect conclusion, but that is not to say the ending is perhaps one of the most ingenious and surprising to be found in this genre. Full of detail and strong rounded characters.

  The Long Journey Home

  John Benedict is presumed dead in a plane crash, but in reality survives and is leading a quiet carefree life wandering around southern Italy. All is well until one of life’s tragedies occurs and he comes up against the Mafia, then the Union Course in France and executives of a multi-national computer corporation in London. He becomes a fugitive but with a purpose, and manages to attract some singular allies to help his quest; a monk, a smuggler, a porn-shop owner and a woman from his past. The novel comes to a truly stunning and grisly conclusion as Benedict uses his ingenuity to bring about the final showdown.