A nice enough book, although the final switch didn't really appeal to me. It's the story of Scotland Yard's inspector Jim Carlton and his pursue of millionaire and philanthropist Stratford Harlow, too rich and powerful to be honest. Other characters are inspector Elk, who works with Carlton; Saul Marling, a man who took care of Harlow's education when he was young; Mr Ellenbury, a lawyer working for Harlow, totally slave to his comands; Aileen Rivers, a pretty girl with a bizarre sense of humour and her uncle Arthur Ingle, recently released from the Dartmoor prison.
The whole time Carlton tries to keep the pace to figure out Harlow's plans, but Harlow's too smart and too used to his tricks to be easily caught. Towards the end, we see Ellenbury intending to leave the country with a lot of money, Harlow's money, when Aileen knocks at his door. She has been sent by her employer to bring a letter to him and then one to Mr Harlow. Ellenbury feels trapped now, and plans to kill the poor girl, but she's saved by Harlow himself.
In Harlow's house also lived Mr Marling, locked in there but very well taken care of.
After saving Aileen, Harlow asks her to stay hidden in his house for one day, to give him some time to escape. She does so, voluntarily, because she likes him and because, well, he did save her life!
Since she disappeared Carlton was out of his mind worried about her, but he finally found her safe and sound in Harlow's house. Because of his very bizarre sense of humour, Harlow instead of being too angry and vengeful gives Ellenbury a bag of money and sends him abroad, with his word that he won't try to kill anyone else *rollingeyes*
Harlow then hides inside another apartment among the many he has, bringing Marling with him, but Marling escapes and reveals everything to the police: that he is the real Stratford Harlow, and the other man is the real Marling, who switched his identity with him many years ago. He tells of the "joke" to put off balance the markets of the world, having ex-actor Ingle play the part of Sir Joseph Layton, a Minister, so to have him speak in front of the Parliament, saying of a serious crisis between their country and France that could even bring to a war. To do this he had abducted Sir Joseph and had kept him hidden until it was all done. When fake-Harlow/actually-Marling is captured, he goes to the police station cell without a struggle, and Carlton understands why only when it's too late.
Years ago, being extremely wealthy and prevident, he had decided to have a police station built at his only expenses, and then he donated it to the community. This was because he had deviced a secret passage from the cell, so had he ever been arrested he would have had the perfect escape route!
So now he has escaped, and hiding who knows where in the world, no doubt planning others of those little 'jokes' that he likes so much :-)
In the last sentences it is revealed that Carlton has married Aileen, and that she never told him a secret fake-Harlow had confided in her, being sure she would not have betrayed him: she knew about the cell and the way he would have escaped!
Now, it was fun enough to read. I didn't like the final "I'm Harlow, not Marling, and he's Marling, not Harlow" switch, I found it boring, but like Aileen I liked the scoundrel, he was very smart, brilliant. Nobody was killed and the police deduced very little on their own :lol:
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