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NGAIO MARSH

Harper An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by Collins 1943

Copyright © Ngaio Marsh Ltd 1943

Ngaio Marsh asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of these works

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 ebooks

HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 978000651238

Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2009 ISBN: 9780007344574

Version: 2017-05-04

To the family at Tauranga

Cover

Title Page NGAIO MARSH

Copyright COPYRIGHT Copyright Dedication Cast of Characters 1 The Claires and Dr Ackrington 2 Mr Questing Goes Down for the First Time 3 Gaunt at the Springs 4 Red for Danger 5 Mr Questing Goes Down for the Second Time 6 Arrival of Septimus Falls 7 Torpedo 8 Concert 9 Mr Questing Goes Down for the Third Time 10 Entrance of Sergeant Webley 11 The Theory of a Put-Up Job 12 Skull 13 Letter from Mr Questing 14 Solo by Septimus Falls 15 The Last of Septimus Falls Keep Reading Also by the Author About the Publisher Harper An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by Collins 1943 Copyright © Ngaio Marsh Ltd 1943 Ngaio Marsh asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of these works A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 ebooks HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication Source ISBN: 978000651238 Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2009 ISBN: 9780007344574 Version: 2017-05-04

Dedication DEDICATION Dedication Cast of Characters 1 The Claires and Dr Ackrington 2 Mr Questing Goes Down for the First Time 3 Gaunt at the Springs 4 Red for Danger 5 Mr Questing Goes Down for the Second Time 6 Arrival of Septimus Falls 7 Torpedo 8 Concert 9 Mr Questing Goes Down for the Third Time 10 Entrance of Sergeant Webley 11 The Theory of a Put-Up Job 12 Skull 13 Letter from Mr Questing 14 Solo by Septimus Falls 15 The Last of Septimus Falls Keep Reading Also by the Author About the Publisher To the family at Tauranga

Cast of Characters CAST OF CHARACTERS Dr James Ackrington, MD, FRCS, FRCP Barbara Claire, his niece Mrs Claire, his sister Colonel Edward Claire, his brother-in-law Simon Claire, his nephew Huia, maid at Wai-ata-tapu Geoffrey Gaunt, a visiting celebrity Dikon Bell, his secretary Alfred Colly, his servant Maurice Questing, man of business Rua Te Kahu, a chief of the Te Rarawas Herbert Smith, roustabout at Wai-ata-tapu Eru Saul, a half-caste Septimus Falls The Princess Te Papa (Mrs Te Papa), of the Te Rarawas Detective-Sergeant Webley, of the Harpoon Constabulary A Superintendent of Police

1 The Claires and Dr Ackrington

2 Mr Questing Goes Down for the First Time

3 Gaunt at the Springs

4 Red for Danger

5 Mr Questing Goes Down for the Second Time

6 Arrival of Septimus Falls

7 Torpedo

8 Concert

9 Mr Questing Goes Down for the Third Time

10 Entrance of Sergeant Webley

11 The Theory of a Put-Up Job

12 Skull

13 Letter from Mr Questing

14 Solo by Septimus Falls

15 The Last of Septimus Falls

Keep Reading

Also by the Author

About the Publisher

Dr James Ackrington, MD, FRCS, FRCP

Barbara Claire, his niece

Mrs Claire, his sister

Colonel Edward Claire, his brother-in-law

Simon Claire, his nephew

Huia, maid at Wai-ata-tapu

Geoffrey Gaunt, a visiting celebrity

Dikon Bell, his secretary

Alfred Colly, his servant

Maurice Questing, man of business

Rua Te Kahu, a chief of the Te Rarawas

Herbert Smith, roustabout at Wai-ata-tapu

Eru Saul, a half-caste

Septimus Falls

The Princess Te Papa (Mrs Te Papa), of the Te Rarawas

Detective-Sergeant Webley, of the Harpoon Constabulary

A Superintendent of Police

When Dr James Ackrington limped into the Harpoon Club on the afternoon of Monday, January the thirteenth, he was in a poisonous temper. A sequence of events had combined to irritate and then to inflame him. He had slept badly. He had embarked, he scarcely knew why, on a row with his sister, a row based obscurely on the therapeutic value of mud pools and the technique of frying eggs. He had asked for the daily paper of the previous Thursday only to discover that it had been used to wrap up Mr Maurice Questing’s picnic lunch.