The House Opposite
From the Collins Crime Club archive, the first original novel to feature Ben the Cockney tramp, the unorthodox detective character created by J. Jefferson Farjeon, author of Mystery in White.Strange things are happening in the untenanted houses of Jowle Street. There are unaccountable creakings and weird knockings on the door of No.29, where a homeless ex-sailor has taken up residence. But even stranger things are happening in the House Opposite, from where a beautiful woman in an evening gown brings Ben a mysterious message; and worse—the offer of a job!Ben the ‘passing tramp’ was immortalised on film by Alfred Hitchcock in the film Number 17, based on a popular ’twenties stage play and novelisation by journalist-turned-author Joe Jefferson Farjeon. The House Opposite (1931) was the first full-length original novel to feature Ben, a reluctant down-at-heels Cockney sleuth, who went on to feature in six more successful detective thrillers from 1931 to 1952.This Detective Story Club classic includes an introduction by H. R. F. Keating, author of the award-winning Inspector Ghote mysteries, which first appeared in the Crime Club’s 1985 ‘Disappearing Detectives’ series.
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J. JEFFERSON FARJEON
The House Opposite
COLLINS CRIME CLUB
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain for Crime Club by W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1932
Copyright © Estate of J. Jefferson Farjeon 1932
Cover design by Mike Topping © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016
Cover background images © shutterstock.com
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
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.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008155865
Ebook Edition © August 2016 ISBN: 9780008155858
Version: 2016-06-28
Table of Contents
Chapter 4: At the Coffee Stall
Chapter 5: The Contents of a Parcel
Chapter 7: The Will of a Woman
Chapter 8: Ben Finds New Quarters
Chapter 11: What You Can Do When You Matter
Chapter 12: How Not to Kill an Indian
Chapter 13: A Queer Association
Chapter 15: Ben Commits a Murder
Chapter 16: Ben Takes the Plunge
Chapter 17: The Spider’s Parlour
Chapter 18: Cocktails in Jowle Street
Chapter 19: Mr Clitheroe’s Big Idea
Chapter 20: Wheels Within Wheels
Chapter 21: Little Hymns of Hate
Chapter 22: The Friendly Surface
Chapter 26: Mahdi Takes Control
Chapter 27: When Morning Came—
Chapter 29: The Terms of Silence
Chapter 31: Outside the Cellar Door
Chapter 32: The Conversation in the Hall
‘GAWD!’ muttered the temporary tenant of No. 29 Jowle Street. ‘That’s done it!’
He was eating cheese. His dining-table was a soap box. His view was peeling wallpaper. And his knife, fork and spoon were eight fingers and two thumbs. Not, of course, that one needs a knife, fork and spoon for cheese. Eight fingers and a couple of thumbs are sufficient for anybody.
Despite his primitive accessories and his faded, dilapidated view, the temporary tenant of No. 29 Jowle Street had been quite content until this moment. He had lived in more empty houses than anyone else in the kingdom, and he knew a good one when he came across it. Beginning with No. 17, he had worked upwards and downwards, numerically, until his addresses had included every number under fifty. The usual method was to enter the houses slowly and to leave them quickly—and he had left the last one very quickly. But No. 29 had suggested a longer stay. Its peeling walls and rotting staircase had whispered comfortingly, ‘No one has been here for years and years, and no one will want to come here for years and years.’ This was the message of welcome one most appreciated …
But, now, this bell!
‘I ’aven’t ’eard it,’ decided the diner. ‘’Cos why? It ain’t rung, see?’
He continued with his cheese. The bell rang again. Again, the cheese halted.
‘Wot’s the good of ’is ringin’ like that when nothink ’appens?’ grumbled the diner. ‘If ’e’d got any sense ’e’d go away and know there was nobody ’ere.’
The bell rang a third time. The diner concluded that Fate was not going to let him have it all his own way. When people rang thrice, you had to decide between the alternatives of letting them in or ’opping it.
You could ’op it, in this case, through an open window at the back. It would be quite easy. On the other hand, it was a nice house and a nasty night. Sometimes boldness pays.
The bell rang a fourth time. ‘Gawd, ain’t ’e a sticker?’ thought the diner, and decided on the policy of boldness.
He had selected for his meal the front room on the second floor. He always liked to be high up, because it made you seem a long way off. Moreover, this was the only room in the house that was furnished. None of the other rooms had any soap boxes at all. Still, there was one disadvantage of being on the second floor. You had to go down two flights of creaking stairs to get to the ground floor, which you didn’t exactly hanker after in the evening. And then, murders generally happened on second floors.
