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    Whose Body?
    Whose Body?
    Whose Body?
    Ebook225 pages3 hours

    Whose Body?

    By Dorothy L. Sayers

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Praise for Dorothy Sayers: “Part of the Golden Age of mystery writers . . . Sayers is often credited as the most intelligent of them all”—The Guardian

    In this new edition of Dorothy Sayers’s Whose Body?, readers are introduced to the star of her mystery series, Lord Peter Wimsey. In this first book of Sayers’s series, Peter, an amateur sleuth, is intrigued and mystified by the sudden appearance of a naked body in the bathtub of an architect. Meanwhile, another man, a financier, is reported missing, last having been seen leaving his house stark naked! Though originally thought to be two separate occurrences, as Peter investigates, he discovers the death and the disappearance are indeed related. As clues amass and become stranger and stranger, will Lord Peter be able to solve the mystery?

    Follow along with Lord Peter Wimsey in this new and improved edition of Dorothy Sayers’s original debut novel Whose Body? With a beautiful new cover and enhanced text and footnotes, this novel will be sure to leave any mystery or historical fiction fan begging for more.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherClydesdale
    Release dateFeb 4, 2020
    ISBN9781945186912
    Author

    Dorothy L. Sayers

    Dorothy L. Sayers, the greatest of the golden age detective novelists, was born in Oxford in 1893. Her aristocratic detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, became one of the most popular fictional heroes of the twentieth century. She devoted the last 20 years of her life to playwriting, Christian scholarship, and a new translation of Dante. She died in 1957.

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    Reviews for Whose Body?

    3.5/5

    1,355 ratings81 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is the first of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. Lord Peter is a moneyed gentleman about town who enjoys dabbling in mysteries but also occasionally suffers bouts of ‘nerve exhaustion’ from fighting in WWI.In this first installment, a gentleman wakes up to find an unknown, thoroughly naked dead body in his bathtub. Lord Wimsey takes on finding the how, why and who. He is aided by his friend, Detective Parker of Scotland Yard who is coincidentally missing an esteemed Jewish financier – and although the easy solution, embraced by the bungling Inspector Sugg, is that the two are the same, Wimsey soon proves this wrong, but continues to search for a connection in the cases.We also meet Wimsey’s amazingly competent valet Bunter, who along with Wimsey’s mother, are excellent minor characters.It took me a while to engage with the plot, but the characters drew me in.I’ll be back for more.
    • 2/5
      This was a so-so murder mystery to be solved by Lord Peter Wimsey. The book was very juvenile. I found their speaking affectations contrived (reely). The ending was thrust upon the reader by means of a letter. I will not be reading any other books in this series. This was a free Kindle book and I see why!
    • 5/5
      This is the first adventure of Lord Peter Wimsey, amateur detective. His mother brings him his new case when she tells him that a body was found in the bathtub of "the little architect man who is doing the church roof." Lord Peter is intrigued and seizes on the chance to solve the mystery.Then his friend Parker, who is a detective with Scotland Yard, brings him another puzzle. A Jewish financier named Sir Reuben Levy has also disappeared. Lord Peter's mother is a friend of the financier's wife which makes Peter eager to solve this problem too. While Inspector Sugg is certain that the body in the bath and the missing financier are the same man, neither Parker nor Lord Peter believe that to be the case. While Parker and Lord Peter, with the able assistance of his man Bunter, follow the clues and unearth potential villains, we get to know this bright young aristocrat who looks at solving crimes as a hobby and who is a veteran of World War I who came home with flashbacks and nightmares. I enjoyed the witty dialog even though I cringed at some of the stereotypes in the story written in 1923. I liked the way the clues were all presented so that the reader could potentially identify the villain along with Lord Peter.
    • 4/5
      Delightful introduction to a character found by way of a suggested other book in the series. Fascinating that it was published in 1923. I found it more enjoyable, engaging, and intelligent than Conan Doyle's Holmes stories. I might have pushed another star were it not for the Melvillian hyper-detail tedium of an inquest proceeding in the middle.

      Ms. Sayers was quite the literary polymath. I hope to find time to read more of these. I'm dead in the water with Doyle's Holmes as it is just dull, but the non inquest parts of Whose Body? were far from it.
    • 3/5
      In this first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, his mother interests him in a case in which a corpse is found in a man's bathtub. Then his friend Detective Parker of Scotland Yard seeks his assistance in locating a missing man. Although Inspector Sugg suggested the man in the tub and Levy were one and the same, Detective Parker and Lord Peter knew evidence suggested otherwise. While the book is well-plotted, the writing style takes a while to engage the reader. I listened to the version read by Nadia May, a pseudonym for Wanda McCaddon. She read a bit more rapidly in places than the ideal speed.
    • 4/5
      An above-average mystery set in post WWI England, with Lord Peter Wimsey playing amateur sleuth. The mystery is interesting, but the interplay of Wimsey and other characters like his valet Bunter are what makes this more than just another murder whodunit.
    • 5/5
      Very happy to discover Dorothy L. Sayers, a true master of classic cozy mystery.
    • 4/5
      Lord Peter Wimsey is the epitome of the elegant, eccentric sleuth, and one of the great characters of mystery fiction. In Whose Body, Dorothy L. Sayers' first book, Wimsey himself views the stark naked body lying in the tub. And of course, the brilliant detective untangles the ghastly murder in spite of incorrect assumptions by the police. Started slow but kept me guessing until the end. Good mystery with twists and turns, humor and wit. Well plotted with engaging characters. Sayers is a beautiful writer and I would recommend to those who love English mystery.
    • 3/5
      This is the first Lord Peter Wimsey book it was pretty good ,not as good as I was expecting but still good .I will be reading more of this series as I've heard they do get much better.
    • 4/5
      The second Lord Peter Wimsey novel is thoughtful, affectionate and at times humorous in its depiction of Lord Peter and his fellows. A more rounded and appealing protagonist than most. Quite enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      It all started when Lord Peter Wimsey's mother phoned him to tell him she couldn't have tea with the church's architect that morning as he'd found a body in his bath tub. The infinitely resourceful Lord Peter worms his way into the murder investigation for a lark, and feels obligated to continue since he's convinced the police have made a mistake. Set in the London of the 1920s, this story is crackling with droll British humor, and only the first in a fantastic series of classic mysteries.
    • 5/5
      Whose Body? was Dorothy Sayers' first Lord Peter novel and was published in 1923. I am reading the Lord Peter books very much out of order, so it was fun to go back and see where it all started. Somehow I had the impression that the Lord Peter books started off a bit weak and gathered steam and depth as they went. Well, I was wrong. Whose Body? is right up there with any of Sayers' other novels, with a well-plotted mystery and fascinating yet believable characters. Sayers hit the ground running when she wrote this book.A dead man has been found reposing in the bathtub of an inoffensive little man named Mr. Thipps. What is even more ridiculous is that the dead man is wearing nothing but a pair of gold-rimmed pince-nez — which, as Lord Peter observes, are not exactly enough to satisfy the demands of modesty. Lord Peter confers with his friend Inspector Parker, who is investigating the sudden disappearance of a wealthy Jewish financier. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that the two cases are connected somehow. But how?In this story Sayers explores at length the rising idea that conscience is a physical aberration that can be surgically removed like the appendix. I like a mystery that actually has some theory behind it, some idea that needs working out. Agatha Christie does this sometimes, only hers are psychological hypotheses rather than academic ideas. Wikipedia informs me of a fascinating little nugget, that Sayers originally intended the man's nakedness to be a clue that he was not the missing financier; Lord Peter would have deduced this from the man's not being circumcised. But this was a little too much for the publisher at the time, and the deduction that the bathtub body is not Sir Reuben Levy is made from his calloused workman's hands. Oh, the characters. I think they are unsurpassed in the murder mystery genre. Lord Peter is like a brainy Bertie Wooster, if such a thing can be imagined. He plays the fool the whole time right up to the end when his madness suddenly shows a highly intelligent method. Readers quickly learn that he is a character to be reckoned with (and enjoy watching other characters in the story misjudge him). And yet Lord Peter also has a vulnerability about him that makes him both human and appealing; he has "attacks," terrible memories of his experiences during World War I. The other characters are great too. Bunter is the perfect manservant, an incarnation of Jeeves with his own flavor; Peter's mother, the Dowager Duchess, is so much fun; Mr. Thipps and his beautifully deaf mother are very well drawn and believable, right down to correcting dropped h's; and Inspector Sugg provides the requisite stupid foil for Lord Peter's brilliance. And the villain in this one is particularly chilling. Sayers' irrepressible sense of humor is evident everywhere, both in the characters' dialogue and the wry narrative voice. I love how she describes Alfred Thipps, as a "small, nervous man, whose flaxen hair was beginning to abandon the unequal struggle with destiny." At one point Lord Peter sympathizes with the unhelpful neighbors, saying how Christian feelings really can break up one's domestic peace. Often the humor is highbrow; that is, it relies on adapted quotations from literary works or involves clever puns. The dialogue is perfect — believable and (depending on the speaker) often very witty, peppered with those Britishisms that Anglophiles like myself so enjoy. I feel compelled to mention that there are some anti-semitic sentiments expressed in the story; at one point someone says that "one can be a Jew and still be a good man." Eep! Though perhaps that was considered a progressive statement at the time? From what I've heard, Sayers herself was not anti-semitic, but wrote her characters and settings to accurately reflect their times. It isn't overly pervasive and did not worry me overmuch, but some readers may have a problem with it.I listened to this on audiobook, read by David Case, and I have to say he is one of the best narrators I've ever heard. He wrecks all my theories about how female narrators do better male voices than male narrators can do for female characters. Case's voice for the Duchess is so good I had to listen carefully to make sure it was still him! And he does similar wonders with the other characters. Mr. Thipps is one of my favorites, with his breathless, stop-and-go style. I wish David Case had read all the Lord Peter mysteries!All in all, this is another brilliant one from the "Doyenne of the Golden Age of the Mystery." I will certainly revisit it; I think Sayers is one mystery author whose works won't grow stale after you know the solution. Recommended!
    • 4/5
      I've heard this novel referred to as being anti-Semitic, but I can't see it myself. Sir Reuben Levy is portrayed as a man who was devoted to his wife and daughter and loved by them in return. His (Gentile) wife fell in love with him before he made his money. He was known to the local prostitutes as the sea-green incorruptible because he had no interest in them at all.There are characters in the novel who have a bias against Jews, but they are not the writer. Interestingly enough, it is clear that the prejudices of Whimsey's own family are class-based, not racial. They don't like 'new money' and self-made men. That's old money and landed gentry speaking. Overall, it's a good novel, but it does show some of the defects of being a first novel. The murder's written confession at the end is rather clumsy.
    • 3/5
      Lord Peter helps the police solve the murder of a dead body (wearing only a pince-nez) in the bathtub of an architect friend of his mother's. Silly, bored aristocracy humor of the time.
    • 5/5
      The first of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels and one which starts the series on a high. Wimsey is confronted with two seemingly baffling mysteries which he, of course, solves in his usual inimitable style. What I particularly liked about this novel is how clearly the Wimsey's relationships with his friends and family are defined, his strained relationship with his brother and his closeness to his mother, his friendship with Parker and last, but not least, the wonderous Bunter whose talents and capabilities seem to have no limit.
    • 3/5
      This is the first of Dorothy L. Sayers's mysteries to feature Lord Peter Wimsey. The bored aristocrat has, apparently, no love interests to occupy his time and is in desperate need for a hobby, so he turns to crime-solving. Encouraged by his mother (who heartily approves of her son's new pursuit), aided by Parker (a loyal and observant police-officer) and assisted by his talented butler Bunter (Superman), Lord Peter will attempt to unveil the mystery of an unidentified man found naked in a bathtub, wearing a pince-nez and looking very dead. Only, the same night the man's body was found, someone else decided to go missing as well. Someone who wore a physical resemblance to the victim. Coincidence? One-and-the-same person? Two cases to be solved - or just one?At first my only impression of the Lord Peter & Bunter team was that D.L.Sayers just plain stole them from a very popular Wodehousian series: the "-what?" that Lord Peter often adds to finish off his sentences and Bunter's concern for his master's appearance ("not those trousers sir!") ring way too many loud and annoying bells to anyone who has ever read any Wooster and Jeeves stories. Thankfully, as the plot thickens and the question of whether the two cases are related or not grows more persistent you're allowed to forget for a while about the not-particularly-great-or-original characters. The mystery is resolved neatly enough - no loose ends - but not particularly dramatically or satisfactorily either. This is only the author's first book, to be sure, and I've heard the series gets better; but I still wasn't sure whether I would continue with it or not until I read something that was only included in subsequent re-issues of the book: "a short biography of Lord Peter Wimsey...communicated by his uncle Paul Austin Delagardie." The uncle's letter informs us about Peter's years at college, about his service during the difficult years of war and about the disappointments he has suffered in his personal life. All in all, this "short biography" makes Lord P. Wimsey transcend the stereotype of the idle and rich Englishman and brings him a little closer to being a real flesh-and-bones (and-heartbreaks-and-toilet-needs- and-other-such-trivial-things) character. I think it is an indispensable part of the novel and one that managed to make up my mind about reading the rest of the series. It boils down to this: if, as it is foreshadowed by this late addition to the book, D.L.Sayers will find it worth her time to expand upon the character of her detective-hero and transform him into a real person then I don't want to miss reading all about it.
    • 3/5
      I had high hopes for this one, because I love British murder mystery series, and I was hoping to find a new one to enjoy. Honestly, though, I was a bit underwhelmed. The mystery was clever enough, but hard to get close to. I just didn't care that much about it, it seemed more an academic problem. This was probably largely due to the character of Lord Peter Wimsey, who seemed to treat the mystery as pretty much the same as buying books for his collection--something to pass the time, and only worthy of doing to the extent that he finds it interesting or unusual. True, most people do choose their hobbies that way, but there is something a bit off-putting about someone who judges a murder for it's oddity level before deciding to investigate, especially when he is called on by someone who is counting on him for help out of a tight spot. One gets the impression that if Mr. Thipps had called to ask for help because his maid had been murdered, and Lord Peter had showed up and determined that it was just a boring domestic crime, he would have been happy to let Mr. Thipps rot in jail whether he had committed the crime or not.Still, this is a first novel, and I have hopes that the series will get better. I will probably continue reading, but I think I will look for later books in the library rather than purchasing them.
    • 4/5
      Parts of this mystery are quick enjoyable - Lord Peter can be amusing, I quite liked his mother, and the mystery began as a promising puzzle. However, the puzzle quickly resolved itself and the final chapter where everthing is explained was a little too long. Would like to try another and see if the mysteries get better.
    • 4/5
      Much better than the book I read next (Five Red Herrings). Had some Dowager Duchess, besides the piffle. Somewhat obvious motive for the crime, but it was fun watching them make sure about the means and so on. Also some amusing offscreen gore at the end.
    • 3/5
      I suspect I judged Whose Body? differently, after studying Victorian crime fiction - my expectations of a murder mystery have altered and the lack of main female characters and any romantic subplottheir absence did not bother me at all. The plot is intriguing - Lord Peter is looking into the case of a man who has been found dead in a bathtub wearing nothing but a pince-nez, and his friend Parker (who is a professional Scotland Yard detective) is looking for a missing business man. They swap notes - swap aspects of their investigations, even, and Peter begins to feel that the two are connected. Certain discoveries were unsurprising, and aspects about the ending weren't completely satisfactory. However, the mystery progressed quickly and it is told in such an interesting and entertaining manner that it does not really matter. Peter is a unemployed, unattached aristocrat who is amused by the intellectual challenge his hobby of investigating crimes provides - but not so much by the implications that involves catching a man who will invariably hanged. He is confident, quick-witted and sociable, with an entertaining manner of speech. His conversations with Parker and his interactions with his manservant are quite amusing. I have managed to read the first Lord Peter Wimsey practically last, and was interested to observe Peter is portrayed as a much younger man - as he should be; Whose Body? was written (and set) over a decade before Gaudy Night*. It is interesting to see the sort of person he was; he was both more flippant and more serious than I expected him to be. I was interested that the story included information about his shell-shock and how it affects him - it makes him more human and likable, somehow.Peter's mother, the Dowager Duchess, makes more than one appearance and is delightfully charming and verbose. Other points of interest include an interview with a medical student which is mostly written in the second person ("you" being the slightly bewildered doctor-to-be), an inquest, a detective called Sugg who embodies the "stupid police stereotype" and gets in Lord Peter's way, and the historical context - the mannerisms and social mores of the times.I liked it a lot. It's not Gaudy Night, but it isn't trying to be. It's an entertaining mystery, and while it manages to hold up better on the "entertaining" rather than the "mystery" side of things, I see no reason to hold that against it.* One of the last Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, and one of my very favourite books.
    • 3/5
      Sayers's first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery lacks the calm assurance and mature style of most of the later entries, but it does have its charms. Foremost among these are the characters, particularly Lord Peter himself, his mother, and his manservant Mervyn Bunter. The mystery itself is interesting, involving two cases which might not be related at all--but we see Lord Peter's ability to make connections, perhaps his greatest strength as a sleuth and solver of puzzles. He follows his deductions to improbable but ultimately correct conclusions. Worth reading just to see the introduction of the great character who will star in so many excellent sequels.
    • 3/5
      This is the first of the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy Sayers. It was originally published before the depression and has a distinct style that still stands up by today's standards.Lord Peter, an unemployed aristocrat, enjoys his hobby of investigating crimes and uses his social situation ( the son and brother of a duke) to help Scotland Yard inspectors solve some unusual crimes. In this story a naked man is found dead in the bathtub and the Dowager Duchess (Peter's mother) asks him to search for the killer. Peter's friend Inspector Parker is searching for a missing businessman and the two decide to swap cases. Little do they know what lies ahead.I have heard of this series, mainly through the PBS series (which I've never seen) and decided that this was the right time to try it out. The style is sharp and amusing. Even though the story is set nearly 100 years ago, it still held my interest and entertained.
    • 5/5
      Funny, I just started reading this series at around the same time I started reading the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey-Maturin books, and I feel the same way about them . These books are literature disguised as genre novels! The language is fantastic, and I love how Sayers introduces the idea that Wimsey suffered from PTSD after WWI. I hope that is explored more in future books.
    • 4/5
      A very good opening to the series, with a naked male body appearing in a respectable architect' bath, and a distinguished Jewish financier vanishing. As it turns out, they are not the same man, but there is a connection.
    • 3/5
      Overall interesting, though a bit on the bland side at first.
    • 5/5
      Having just finished reading the first Lord Peter Wimsey novel „Whose Body?“ by Dorothy L. Sayers, I reached a first cornerstone of my literature journey through the beginnings and the Golden Age of crime fiction: Hoffmann’s Fräulein von Scudery, Poe’s Dupin, Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Christie’s Poirot and Marple, Allingham’s Campion, Marsh’s Alleyn and finally Sayer’s Wimsey. With those I think I created a good basis for further reading and deepening the subject. The next classic detective fiction novels will be by Collins and Van Dine (starting to look over the pond a little bit) together with other novels by the listed authors as well as modern classic detective fiction writers such as Penny or James. I’m highly curious where this journey will lead me to.Back to Whose Body? The plot is classically: there was a murder and now the culprit has to be found. Only this time nobody knows who actually got murdered for nobody knows who the dead peron is that’s found naked in the bath tub of the worker Mr. Thipps.Informed by his mother, Lord Peter Wimsey, his funny and never resting servant Bunter and Wimsey’s friend and Scotland Yard inspector Parker have to dig deep for clues revealing a dark and ingenious plot at the end by establishing the missing link between one of Parker’s cases and the case of the dead body in Thipps’ bathtub.In creating the characters of Wimsey and Bunter Sayers showed her craftsmanship to produce remarkable persons with highly individual characteristics. Especially Wimsey with his loose tounge and his sharp intellect is always a pleasure to follow through his dialogs and deductions. Maybe Wimsey is a bit to unprepossessing at times and Bunter could have been a little bit more Wimsey’s sidekick than Parker. But I don’t think that this bears anything negative to the novel. The plot and its turns, Sayers highly variable language and her skill creating atmospheres (and not just dialogs) is just striking (I highly advice you to read chapter XII twice just for the greatness of it). This said I start to understand why Christie, Marsh and Sayers are called the queens of British detective fiction (although I hope the next Campion novels by Allington will turn out better than the really bad first Campion mystery, so I can rightfully include Allingham in the list as well). But for now I just know that I’ll keep on reading this Wimsey series for damn sure.
    • 4/5
      I was looking forward to my first sampling of Dorothy L. Sayers. Whose Body?, the first book in her Lord Peter Wimsey series was published in 1923 and this series went on to establish her as on of the greatest mystery writers of her time. The book started off well with the discovery of a unknown naked man in a bathtub, at the same time a well known financier went suddenly missing, could these two cases be connected?I had a little trouble warming to Lord Peter Wimsey, at first I found him to be very brittle and supercilious. Then at the end of Chapter 8 an event happens which explained a lot about the inner workings of this man.However, I totally fell in love with his admirable valet/sidekick Bunter. How I would love to have such a competent, caring man overseeing every detail of my life! The other character introduced in this book that is worth her weight in gold is Wimsey’s mother, the Dowager Duchess.I found this book an enjoyable read, the mystery was good, although I did figure it out quickly. I enjoyed the setting of 1920’s London and the glimpses of fashion, food and pastimes. The characters are interesting and I am looking forward to seeing what they get up to in future books.
    • 4/5
      This first of the Lord Peter Wimsey series was very well done with well written characters and good psychological and sociological assessments.
    • 4/5
      I've been reading a lot of fantasy lately, and decided to try something different for a change. I asked around for recommendations of some classic mystery, and Dorothy L. Sayers was suggested to me. Hence Whose Body? was my first exposure to Lord Peter Wimsey.Anyway, the book starts out with a naked dead body found in a bathtub. You just know there's going to be a good story there.My first observation was that this book was written in the early 1920s, and it really showed in the writing as well as in the language and mannerisms of her characters. Dorothy L. Sayers is in no way a bad writer, but I couldn't help but notice some very awkward sections where the author attempts to tell the story from another point of view in the form of letters, and you just gotta think to yourself, Surely no one ever speaks or writes like that!Still, I took it all in stride, and didn't even mind too much the overly verbose nature of Lord Peter Wimsey. Having mistakenly thought he would be a stuffy old lord, what I didn't expect was his dry sense of humor ("Well, if he only murdered me you could still hang him--what's the good of wasting a sound, marriageable young male like yourself?") and I liked him right away.I later realized that Whose Body? was not only the first Lord Peter Wimsey book, but also Sayers' first detective novel. It is no wonder that I found some of the "mystery" aspects of the story amateurish. I guessed who the murderer was very early on, and later his explanation didn't even really make a lot of sense to me. In a few sections, I felt the author was a bit unsure of which direction to take, and some of the clues and explanations came through feeling a tad forced. Like one reviewer said, at times the novel felt like a parody of a detective story, complete with a few satirical touches.I am not going to judge the rest of the Wimsey books by this one alone, however, as I know how "rough" first novels usually are, and no doubt Sayers goes on to polish her writing because of how successful her detective works became. Furthermore, even though Whose Body? didn't really do it for me as a mystery, as a novel I found it to be a very pleasant and fun read.
    • 4/5
      My first foray into the world of audio books and I found it hugely enjoyable. The narrator provided unique characters, and the story unfolded under her voice very nicely. And yet, I had no pages to mark, no notes to take; I am undone! This is a book that I've seen recommended over and again through LT, so I was anxious to give it a try. Though written in the 1920s and set in England, a setting and era not familiar to me, I enjoyed the story very much. A murder mystery well written and narrated. (3.4 stars)

    Book preview

    Whose Body? - Dorothy L. Sayers

    CHAPTER I

    Oh, damn! said Lord Peter Wimsey at Piccadilly Circus. Hi, driver!

    The taxi man, irritated at receiving this appeal while negotiating the intricacies of turning into Lower Regent Street across the route of a 19 ’bus, a 38-B and a bicycle, bent an unwilling ear.

    I’ve left the catalogue behind, said Lord Peter deprecatingly. Uncommonly careless of me. D’you mind puttin’ back to where we came from?

    To the Savile Club, sir?

    No—110 Piccadilly—just beyond—thank you.

    Thought you was in a hurry, said the man, overcome with a sense of injury.

    I’m afraid it’s an awkward place to turn in, said Lord Peter, answering the thought rather than the words. His long, amiable face looked as if it had generated spontaneously from his top hat, as white maggots breed from Gorgonzola.

    The taxi, under the severe eye of a policeman, revolved by slow jerks, with a noise like the grinding of teeth.

    The block of new, perfect and expensive flats in which Lord Peter dwelt upon the second floor, stood directly opposite the Green Park, in a spot for many years occupied by the skeleton of a frustrate commercial enterprise. As Lord Peter let himself in he heard his man’s voice in the library, uplifted in that throttled stridency peculiar to well-trained persons using the telephone.

    I believe that’s his lordship just coming in again—if your Grace would kindly hold the line a moment.

    What is it, Bunter?

    Her Grace has just called up from Denver, my lord. I was just saying your lordship had gone to the sale when I heard your lordship’s latchkey.

    Thanks, said Lord Peter; and you might find me my catalogue, would you? I think I must have left it in my bedroom, or on the desk.

    He sat down to the telephone with an air of leisurely courtesy, as though it were an acquaintance dropped in for a chat.

    Hullo, Mother—that you?

    Oh, there you are, dear, replied the voice of the Dowager Duchess. I was afraid I’d just missed you.

    Well, you had, as a matter of fact. I’d just started off to Brocklebury’s sale to pick up a book or two, but I had to come back for the catalogue. What’s up?

    Such a quaint thing, said the Duchess. I thought I’d tell you. You know little Mr. Thipps?

    Thipps? said Lord Peter. Thipps? Oh, yes, the little architect man who’s doing the church roof. Yes. What about him?

    Mrs. Throgmorton’s just been in, in quite a state of mind.

    Sorry, Mother, I can’t hear. Mrs. Who?

    Throgmorton—Throgmorton—the vicar’s wife.

    Oh, Throgmorton, yes?

    Mr. Thipps rang them up this morning. It was his day to come down, you know.

    Yes?

    He rang them up to say he couldn’t. He was so upset, poor little man. He’d found a dead body in his bath.

    Sorry, Mother, I can’t hear; found what, where?

    A dead body, dear, in his bath.

    What?—no, no, we haven’t finished. Please don’t cut us off. Hullo! Hullo! Is that you, Mother? Hullo!—Mother!—Oh, yes—sorry, the girl was trying to cut us off. What sort of body?

    A dead man, dear, with nothing on but a pair of pince-nez. Mrs. Throgmorton positively blushed when she was telling me. I’m afraid people do get a little narrow-minded in country vicarages.

    Well, it sounds a bit unusual. Was it anybody he knew?

    No, dear, I don’t think so, but, of course, he couldn’t give her many details. She said he sounded quite distracted. He’s such a respectable little man—and having the police in the house and so on, really worried him.

    Poor little Thipps! Uncommonly awkward for him. Let’s see, he lives in Battersea, doesn’t he?

    Yes, dear; 59, Queen Caroline Mansions; opposite the Park. That big block just round the corner from the Hospital. I thought perhaps you’d like to run round and see him and ask if there’s anything we can do. I always thought him a nice little man.

    Oh, quite, said Lord Peter, grinning at the telephone. The Duchess was always of the greatest assistance to his hobby of criminal investigation, though she never alluded to it, and maintained a polite fiction of its non-existence.

    What time did it happen, Mother?

    I think he found it early this morning, but, of course, he didn’t think of telling the Throgmortons just at first. She came up to me just before lunch—so tiresome, I had to ask her to stay. Fortunately, I was alone. I don’t mind being bored myself, but I hate having my guests bored.

    Poor old Mother! Well, thanks awfully for tellin’ me. I think I’ll send Bunter to the sale and toddle round to Battersea now an’ try and console the poor little beast. So-long.

    Good-bye, dear.

    Bunter!

    Yes, my lord.

    Her Grace tells me that a respectable Battersea architect has discovered a dead man in his bath.

    Indeed, my lord? That’s very gratifying.

    Very, Bunter. Your choice of words is unerring. I wish Eton and Balliol had done as much for me. Have you found the catalogue?

    Here it is, my lord.

    "Thanks. I am going to Battersea at once. I want you to attend the sale for me. Don’t lose time—I don’t want to miss the Folio Dante¹ nor the de Voragine—here you are—see? ‘Golden Legend’—Wynkyn de Worde, 1493—got that?—and, I say, make a special effort for the Caxton folio of the ‘Four Sons of Aymon’—it’s the 1489 folio and unique. Look! I’ve marked the lots I want, and put my outside offer against each. Do your best for me. I shall be back to dinner."

    Very good, my lord.

    Take my cab and tell him to hurry. He may for you; he doesn’t like me very much. Can I, said Lord Peter, looking at himself in the eighteenth-century mirror over the mantelpiece, "can I have the heart to fluster the flustered Thipps further—that’s very difficult to say quickly—by appearing in a top-hat and frock-coat? I think not. Ten to one he will overlook my trousers and mistake me for the undertaker. A grey suit, I fancy, neat but not gaudy, with a hat to tone, suits my other self better. Exit the amateur of first editions; new motive introduced by solo bassoon; enter Sherlock Holmes, disguised as a walking gentleman. There goes Bunter. Invaluable fellow—never offers to do his job when you’ve told him to do somethin’ else. Hope he doesn’t miss the ‘Four Sons of Aymon.’ Still, there is another copy of that—in the Vatican.² It might become available, you never know—if the Church of Rome went to pot or Switzerland invaded Italy—whereas a strange corpse doesn’t turn up in a suburban bathroom more than once in a lifetime—at least, I should think not—at any rate, the number of times it’s happened, with a pince-nez, might be counted on the fingers of one hand, I imagine. Dear me! it’s a dreadful mistake to ride two hobbies at once."

    He had drifted across the passage into his bedroom, and was changing with a rapidity one might not have expected from a man of his mannerisms. He selected a dark-green tie to match his socks and tied it accurately without hesitation or the slightest compression of his lips; substituted a pair of brown shoes for his black ones, slipped a monocle into a breast pocket, and took up a beautiful Malacca walking-stick with a heavy silver knob.

    That’s all, I think, he murmured to himself. Stay—I may as well have you—you may come in useful—one never knows. He added a flat silver matchbox to his equipment, glanced at his watch, and seeing that it was already a quarter to three, ran briskly downstairs, and, hailing a taxi, was carried to Battersea Park.

    Mr. Alfred Thipps was a small, nervous man, whose flaxen hair was beginning to abandon the unequal struggle with destiny. One might say that his only really marked feature was a large bruise over the left eyebrow, which gave him a faintly dissipated air incongruous with the rest of his appearance. Almost in the same breath with his first greeting, he made a self-conscious apology for it, murmuring something about having run against the dining-room door in the dark. He was touched almost to tears by Lord Peter’s thoughtfulness and condescension in calling.

    I’m sure it’s most kind of your lordship, he repeated for the dozenth time, rapidly blinking his weak little eyelids. I appreciate it very deeply, very deeply, indeed, and so would Mother, only she’s so deaf, I don’t like to trouble you with making her understand. It’s been very hard all day, he added, with the policemen in the house and all this commotion. It’s what Mother and me have never been used to, always living very retired, and it’s most distressing to a man of regular habits, my lord, and reely, I’m almost thankful Mother doesn’t understand, for I’m sure it would worry her terribly if she was to know about it. She was upset at first, but she’s made up some idea of her own about it now, and I’m sure it’s all for the best.

    The old lady who sat knitting by the fire nodded grimly in response to a look from her son.

    I always said as you ought to complain about that bath, Alfred, she said suddenly, in the high, piping voice peculiar to the deaf, and it’s to be ’oped the landlord’ll see about it now; not but what I think you might have managed without having the police in, but there! you always were one to make a fuss about a little thing, from chicken-pox up.

    There now, said Mr. Thipps apologetically, you see how it is. Not but what it’s just as well she’s settled on that, because she understands we’ve locked up the bathroom and don’t try to go in there. But it’s been a terrible shock to me, sir—my lord, I should say, but there! my nerves are all to pieces. Such a thing has never ’appened—happened to me in all my born days. Such a state I was in this morning—I didn’t know if I was on my head or my heels—I reely didn’t, and my heart not being too strong, I hardly knew how to get out of that horrid room and telephone for the police. It’s affected me, sir, it’s affected me, it reely has—I couldn’t touch a bit of breakfast, nor lunch neither, and what with telephoning and putting off clients and interviewing people all morning, I’ve hardly known what to do with myself.

    I’m sure it must have been uncommonly distressin’, said Lord Peter, sympathetically, especially comin’ like that before breakfast. Hate anything tiresome happenin’ before breakfast. Takes a man at such a confounded disadvantage, what?

    That’s just it, that’s just it, said Mr. Thipps, eagerly. "When I saw that dreadful thing lying there in my bath, mother-naked, too, except for a pair of eyeglasses, I assure you, my lord, it regularly turned my stomach, if you’ll excuse the expression. I’m not very strong, sir, and I get that sinking feeling sometimes in the morning, and what with one thing and another I ’ad—had to send the girl for a stiff brandy, or I don’t know what mightn’t have happened. I felt so queer, though I’m anything but partial to spirits as a rule. Still, I make it a rule never to be without brandy in the house, in case of emergency, you know?"

    Very wise of you, said Lord Peter, cheerfully. You’re a very farseein’ man, Mr. Thipps. Wonderful what a little nip’ll do in case of need, and the less you’re used to it the more good it does you. Hope your girl is a sensible young woman, what? Nuisance to have women faintin’ and shriekin’ all over the place.

    Oh, Gladys is a good girl, said Mr. Thipps, very reasonable indeed. She was shocked, of course; that’s very understandable. I was shocked myself, and it wouldn’t be proper in a young woman not to be shocked under the circumstances, but she is reely a helpful, energetic girl in a crisis, if you understand me. I consider myself very fortunate these days to have got a good, decent girl to do for me and Mother, even though she is a bit careless and forgetful about little things, but that’s only natural. She was very sorry indeed about having left the bathroom window open, she reely was, and though I was angry at first, seeing what’s come of it, it wasn’t anything to speak of, not in the ordinary way, as you might say. Girls will forget things, you know, my lord, and reely she was so distressed I didn’t like to say too much to her. All I said was: ‘It might have been burglars,’ I said, ‘remember that, next time you leave a window open all night; this time it was a dead man,’ I said, ‘and that’s unpleasant enough, but next time it might be burglars,’ I said, ‘and all of us murdered in our beds.’ But the police-inspector—Inspector Sugg, they called him, from the Yard—he was very sharp with her, poor girl. Quite frightened her, and made her think he suspected her of something, though what good a body could be to her, poor girl, I can’t imagine, and so I told the Inspector. He was quite rude to me, my lord—I may say I didn’t like his manner at all. ‘If you’ve got anything definite to accuse Gladys or me of, Inspector,’ I said to him, ‘bring it forward, that’s what you have to do,’ I said, ‘but I’ve yet to learn that you’re paid to be rude to a gentleman in his own ’ouse—house.’ Reely, said Mr. Thipps, growing quite pink on the top of his head, he regularly roused me, regularly roused me, my lord, and I’m a mild man as a rule.

    Sugg all over, said Lord Peter. I know him. When he don’t know what else to say, he’s rude. Stands to reason you and the girl wouldn’t go collectin’ bodies. Who’d want to saddle himself with a body? Difficulty’s usually to get rid of ’em. Have you got rid of this one yet, by the way?

    It’s still in the bathroom, said Mr. Thipps. Inspector Sugg said nothing was to be touched till his men came in to move it. I’m expecting them at any time. If it would interest your lordship to have a look at it—

    Thanks awfully, said Lord Peter. I’d like to very much, if I’m not puttin’ you out.

    Not at all, said Mr. Thipps. His manner as he led the way along the passage convinced Lord Peter of two things—first, that, gruesome as his exhibit was, he rejoiced in the importance it reflected upon himself and his flat, and secondly, that Inspector Sugg had forbidden him to exhibit it to anyone. The latter supposition was confirmed by the action of Mr. Thipps, who stopped to fetch the door-key from his bedroom, saying that the police had the other, but that he made it a rule to have two keys to every door, in case of accident.

    The bathroom was in no way remarkable. It was long and narrow, the window being exactly over the head of the bath. The panes were of frosted glass; the frame wide enough to admit a man’s body. Lord Peter stepped rapidly across to it, opened it and looked out.

    The flat was the top one of the building and situated about the middle of the block. The bathroom window looked out upon the backyards of the flats, which were occupied by various small outbuildings, coal-holes, garages, and the like. Beyond these were the back gardens of a parallel line of houses. On the right rose the extensive edifice of St. Luke’s Hospital, Battersea, with its grounds, and, connected with it by a covered way, the residence of the famous surgeon, Sir Julian Freke, who directed the surgical side of the great new hospital, and was, in addition, known in Harley Street as a distinguished neurologist with a highly individual point of view.

    This information was poured into Lord Peter’s ear at considerable length by Mr. Thipps, who seemed to feel that the neighbourhood of anybody so distinguished shed a kind of halo of glory over Queen Caroline Mansions.

    We had him round here himself this morning, he said, about this horrid business. Inspector Sugg thought one of the young medical gentlemen at the hospital might have brought the corpse round for a joke, as you might say, they always having bodies in the dissecting-room. So Inspector Sugg went round to see Sir Julian this morning to ask if there was a body missing. He was very kind, was Sir Julian, very kind indeed, though he was at work when they got there, in the dissecting-room. He looked up the books to see that all the bodies were accounted for, and then very obligingly came round here to look at this—he indicated the bath—and said he was afraid he couldn’t help us—there was no corpse missing from the hospital, and this one didn’t answer to the description of any they’d had.

    Nor to the description of any of the patients, I hope, suggested Lord Peter casually.

    At this grisly hint Mr. Thipps turned pale.

    I didn’t hear Inspector Sugg inquire, he said, with some agitation. What a very horrid thing that would be—God bless my soul, my lord, I never thought of it.

    Well, if they had missed a patient they’d probably have discovered it by now, said Lord Peter. "Let’s have a look

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