Vincent Starrett: The Blue Door

“If you don’t mind, I would rather not. You see, I have found you , Miss Coolbrith, and that is enough to satisfy my vanity. I must remain in the East for a time, until the authorities are in possession of all my information; and sooner or later I must return for the trial of Connor—and of the others, if they are caught. I shall be very busy; but as soon as possible, Gilruth and I must get back to Chicago. I hope, however, that you will yourself undertake the search, and that you will let me know of your success or failure. It would please me greatly to hear that you had found the treasure, and that it was really worth while. You’ll surely let me know, won’t you?”

“Of course. I’ll send you a sample of the treasure. Do you suppose it will be a chest of doubloons?”

“I hope so,” answered Lavender, “and of Louis d’ors, and pine-tree shillings, and pieces of eight, too! Send me one of each, please.”

Miss Coolbrith faithfully promised; but a long time has passed since that day, without word of the treasure. Thomas Connor has long since paid the penalty of his crime, and Hammond and Converse are still fugitives from justice. Occasionally we hear from Robert Coolbrith and his niece; they have never ceased to be grateful; but although the young woman is still optimistic, and brings hosts of friends to the island every summer, the “neat spot” in which Roger Coolbrith hid his money is still a mystery.

So it may remain, for all of me.

Vincent Starrett (1886–1974) was a Chicago journalist who become one of the world’s foremost experts on Sherlock Holmes. A books columnist for the Chicago Tribune , he also wrote biographies of authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Ambrose Bierce. A founding member of the Baker Street Irregulars, Starrett is best known for writing The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1933), an imaginative biography of the famous sleuth.

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These are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1930 by Vincent Starrett

Cover design by Andy Ross

ISBN: 978-1-5040-6594-8

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