Inspector Alleyn 3-Book Collection 9: Clutch of Constables, When in Rome, Tied Up in Tinsel
The ninth volume in a set of omnibus editions presenting the complete run of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries.CLUTCH OF CONSTABLESAccording to Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, 'the Jampot' is an international crook who regards murder as 'tiresome and regrettable necessities'. But Alleyn's wife Troy has shared close quarters with the Jampot on a pleasure cruise along the peaceful rivers of 'Constable country' and knows something is badly wrong even before the two murders on board…WHEN IN ROMEWhen their guide disappears mysteriously in the depths of a Roman Basilica, the members of Sebastian Mailer's tour group seem strangely unperturbed. But when a body is discovered in an Etruscan sarcophagus, Superintendent Alleyn, in Rome on the trail of an international drug racket, is very much concerned…TIED UP IN TINSELWhen a much disliked visiting servant disappears without trace after playing Santa Claus, foul play is at once suspected - only suspicion falls not on the staff but on the unimpeachably respectable guests. When Superintendent Roderick Alleyn returns unexpectedly from a trip overseas, it is to find his beloved wife in the thick of an intriguing mystery…
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Ngaio Marsh
INSPECTOR ALLEYN 3-BOOK COLLECTION 9:
Clutch of Constables, When in Rome, Tied Up in Tinsel
HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
Clutch of Constables first published in Great Britain by Collins 1968 When in Rome first published in Great Britain by Collins 1970 Tied Up in Tinsel first published in Great Britain by Collins 1971 Chapter and Verse: The Little Copplestone Mystery first published in Great Britain in Death on the Air and Other Stories by HarperCollinsPublishers 1995
Ngaio Marsh asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of these works
Copyright © Ngaio Marsh Ltd 1968, 1970, 1971
A Fool About Money copyright © Ngaio Marsh (Jersey) Ltd 1974 Cover design © crushed.co.uk
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780007328772
Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2014 ISBN: 9780007531431
Version: 2018-07-17
For Audrey and Guy with love
Contents
| Passenger List M.V. Zodiac | |
| Mrs Roderick Alleyn | |
| Miss Hazel Rickerby-Carrick | |
| Mr Caley Bard | |
| Mr Stanley Pollock | |
| Dr Francis Natouche MD | |
| Mr Earl J. Hewson | |
| Miss Sally-Lou Hewson | |
| The Rev J. de B. Lazenby | |
| Ship’s Company M. V. Zodiac | |
| James Tretheway | Skipper |
| Mrs Tretheway | Cook and Stewardess |
| Tom Tretheway | Boy |
| Persons in or about Tollardwark | |
| Jno. Bagg | Licensed Dealer |
| Mrs Bagg | His mother |
| Mr and Mrs John Smith | A ton-up combo |
| Police | |
| Superintendent Albert Tillottson | Tollardwark Constabulary |
| PC Cape | Tollardwark Constabulary |
| Superintendent R. Bonney | Longminster Constabulary |
| Sundry Constables | County police forces |
| Superintendent Alleyn | CID London |
| Inspector Fox | CID London |
| Detective-Sergeant Bailey | CID London |
| Detective-Sergeant Thompson | CID London |
‘There was nothing fancy about the Jampot,’ Alleyn said. ‘The word “Jobs” is entirely appropriate to his activities. He planned carefully, left as little as possible to chance, took a satisfaction in his work and accepted, without dwelling upon them, the occupational hazards which it involved. Retention or abolishment of capital punishment made no difference at all to his professional behaviour: I daresay he looks upon the murders that he did in fact perform, as tiresome and regrettable necessities.
‘His talents were appropriate to his employment. They included manual dexterity, a passion for accuracy, a really exceptional intelligence of mathematical precision and a useful imagination offset by a complete blank where nervous anxiety might be expected. Above all he was a superb mimic. Mimics are born not made. From his childhood the Jampot showed an uncanny talent in reflecting not only the mannerisms, speech habits and social behaviour of an extraordinary diversity of persons but of knowing, apparently by instinct, how they would react to given circumstances. Small wonder,’ Alleyn said, ‘that he led us up the garden path for so long. He was a masterpiece.’
He looked round his audience. Six rows of sharp-cropped heads. Were the dumb-looking ones as dumb as their wrinkled foreheads, lacklustre eyes and slackish mouths seemed to suggest? Was the forward-leaning one in the second row, who had come up from the uniformed branch with an outstanding report, as good as his promise? Protectors of the people, Alleyn thought. If only the people would recognize them as such. He went on.
