BIGGLES OF THE INTERPOL

 

‘Some adventures of Air Detective-Inspector Bigglesworth of the International Police Commission’

 

by Captain W. E. Johns

 

First published 23rd May 1957

 

TITLE PAGE – Page 1

 

CONTENTS – Page 3

 

ILLUSTRATIONS – Page 5 – (six illustrations by Stead, with one as the frontispiece and the other five facing pages 28, 60, 76, 140 and 156)

 

I.      BIGGLES WORKS OVERTIME  (Pages 7 – 45)

 

The book opens with the line “Did you know a fellow named Eustace Bowden?  He was for some time a club instructor at Gatwick”.  Air Commodore Raymond is putting the question to Air Detective-Inspector Bigglesworth, his chief operational pilot.  “I’ve heard of him, and may have seen him about, but I can’t say I knew him,” answered Biggles.  Raymond tells Biggles that Bowden has been killed “in a crash on an attempt to break the solo light plane record to Cape Town”.  (The actual record for flying from Gravesend to Cape Town was set by Alexander Henshaw (1912 - 2007) setting off on 5th February 1939 in a Mew Gull.  Henshaw flew the 6377 miles to Cape Town in 40 hours.  He spent 28 hours there and then flew back in 39 hours and 36 minutes.  He completed the whole trip of 12,754 miles in 4 days, 10 hours and 16 minutes.  The record was not broken in his lifetime.  The reverse trip record was broken in 2009 and the round trip was beaten in 2010).  Biggles says that he has heard that a burnt out plane with a body in it has been found in the Sudan.  The crash was found not far from Bowden’s line of flight and Raymond is certain the body is that of Bowden.  Biggles is not so sure, questioning why a pilot of Bowden’s experience should be off course on a fine night.  Raymond tells Biggles “You know as well as I do that in cases of fire it’s almost impossible to identify a body.  Bowden was burnt beyond any hope of recognition”.  Biggles thinks the type of plane was odd.  He says “The machine was a new type, an Owlet, produced by the United States Aircom Corporation”.  (This plane and company are both fictional, although there was an “Owlet” aircraft which was first flown on 5th September 1940.  This one off single-engined plane was a training version of the Cygnet II.  It did not attract any orders).  “It was a four-seater developed for night work on feeder lines, which means that speed was sacrificed for reliability and slow landings”.  Biggles says that on the machine’s official performance figures, Bowden could not have broken the record flying on full throttle.  Raymond suggests the engine could have been “hotted up” for the job.  Biggles says he will go and speak with Allan Hay at Gatwick, which is the British agent for the Owlet, to find out.  The plane crashed north-east of Atbara, which is east of the main route south.  Raymond says there was only one aircraft on that sector of the route that night and it was Bowden, so it must have been Bowden’s body in the crash.  Biggles replies “You assume that it was Bowden.  You don’t know.  Since I’ve been on this job one thing I’ve learned is that it isn’t safe to assume anything.  Raymond says he will get the number of the engine of Bowden’s machine from the makers to compare with the wreck and that should satisfy Biggles.  “Not entirely” replies Biggles.  “In heaven’s name, man!  What more do you want?” asks a frustrated Raymond.  Biggles suggests getting Bowden’s R.A.F. dental chart and comparing the teeth with the remains of the body.  He will then fly out with it to the Resident Magistrate.  Biggles asks Raymond to get the District Medical Officer to make a pattern of the teeth they have for comparison.  “I don’t want to fiddle about with a corpse”.  Biggles adds that he would be as surprised as Raymond if the body is not Bowden’s.

 

“Two days later, Biggles, who had flown to the Sudan with Ginger in a police Proctor, was shown by a coloured sentry into the headquarters of the Resident Magistrate at the government post of Abu Kara”.  The Magistrate is with the District Medical Officer and the Magistrate tell Biggles that the dead pilot had been shot.  “The bullet that killed him couldn’t possible have come from the ground.  It was fired in the air, and moreover, at close range.  Death must have been instantaneous”.  Biggles asks how they could know if the thing was burnt out.  He is told there was a hole in the skull and “the bullet entered the head from the side just below the temple, struck the opposite cheek bone and lodged in the jaw”.  Biggles asks to sit down.  “Not for a long time had Ginger seen him so shaken”.  Biggles hands over the dental chart he has brought with him and is soon told that the teeth are not those of the body found in the crash.  The chart shows five molars missing whereas the body had a set of teeth that were perfect and complete.  “Again for a moment Biggles could only stare.  The truth of the matter was, in spite of the arguments he had put forward to the Air Commodore, he was convinced in his mind that the crash could only be that of Bowden, the ill-fated record breaker”.  The engine number is J.B. 4257 which is the correct one.  Ginger reminds Biggles that when they saw Hay, he told them that Bowden wore a parachute.  They are told that the body in the crash had no parachute otherwise the metal fittings would have been found.  Biggles and Ginger fly home in the Proctor.

 

Back at Scotland Yard, Biggles goes to see Air Commodore Raymond and tells him that it was Bowden’s machine but he wasn’t in it.  Raymond asks who was in it and Biggles says “I haven’t a clue – and in this case there’s no dental chart for comparison”.  “All right.  Don’t rub it in”.  The Air Commodore pushed over the cigarette box.  “You know, Bigglesworth, you must have an instinct for this sort of thing” adding “I withdraw my criticism of your methods.  Now tell me about it”.  Biggles recounts the result of his investigations at Abu Kara.  Biggles wants to get Bowden’s full Service record.  “It’s queer he hasn’t shown up.  He’s either dead or deliberately keeping under cover”.  Biggles and Ginger go to see Hay, the Aircom agent again.  Hay says he should never have agreed to the show as he had a feeling that Bowden was phoney.  He hadn’t any money.  The machine had been bought by a lad named Antony Renford, who was a nineteen old pupil at their club.  Biggles gets Renford’s address in Jermyn Street.  Biggles asks Hay if he thought it strange that Bowden chose an Owlet when it couldn’t do what he said he intended to do.  Hay replies “This isn’t a pilot information bureau.  My job is to sell aeroplanes to anybody who wants one, without asking why he wants it.  Bowden had the money to pay.  I had the machine to sell”.  Biggles and Ginger go to Renford’s address but Biggles tells Ginger he won’t be home “Because if I’m any good at guessing he’s dead and buried – in Africa”.  Biggles thinks Renford would have insisted on going with Bowden and as a result lost his life.  Biggles says the first question to answer is why did Bowden acquire an aircraft only to destroy it?  A janitor tells Biggles that Renford is not at home and he hasn’t seen him for ten days.  They return to inform Raymond who now has Bowden’s service papers.  Bowden was in a spot of trouble once or twice being under the suspicion of having misappropriated squadron funds.  His longest overseas tour was at Suakin on the Red Sea with a flying-boat squadron.  Biggles notes that is not far from where the Owlet crashed.  Raymond says Bowden once had a forced landing south of Jidda and spent of couple of weeks with Sheikh Ibn Usfa, a friend of the British.  Bowden resigned from the service when he was hopelessly in debt and couldn’t meet his bills.  Biggles wonders if Bowden has resumed his friendship with the Sheikh.  Raymond suggests Biggles goes out to Suakin to check and shows him a photo of both Bowden and the Sheikh.  “Bowden was a heavy, rather florid type, with the big moustache in vogue in the R.A.F.”

 

Five days later Biggles and Ginger are back at Abu Kara where they get a letter of introduction from the Resident Magistrate and then they fly on to El Bishra where the Sheikh has his palace.  Biggles lands as near as he can and he and Ginger walk to the palace where they note something hostile about the way the locals just stand and watch them.  “There was something disconcerting, to say the least of it, in the way the Arabs with dark scowling faces, but without saying a word, lined up beside them and kept them company.  By the time they reached the palace they were in the centre of a small but menacing crowd”.  (“They were in the centre of a small but menacing crowd” is the illustration opposite page 28).  “At the palace door they were stopped by two armed negroes, but Biggles was saved the trouble of explaining his reason for being there when a young man, from his dress a person of importance, appeared from within”.  The man speaks perfect English and says “Please come in.  My house and all that is in it is at your disposal”.  (“My house and all that is in it is at your disposal”- a line from page 24 – is the frontispiece illustration).  The man offers sherbet or coffee as refreshment and Biggles chooses sherbet.  “The sheikh clapped his hands.  A negro appeared, accepted an order in what presumably was Arabic, bowed and retired”.  The man says he had just completed his third year at Cambridge University but has returned home only a few days ago, on receiving news of his father’s death.  “The Sheikh Ibn Usfa was my father.  He is dead.  Such was God’s will”.  Biggles expresses his condolences and is told the sheikh was murdered.  “All we know is that a man who must have been familiar with this house came here in the dead of night.  He killed the sentry on duty, entered this room, shot my father and fled”.  This was a fortnight ago.  The sheikh’s valuable pearl collection, which stood on a table, in sea water, in ordinary glass jars, has been stolen.  Biggles explains they are police officers from London.  He asks if anyone heard an aircraft on the night of the murder.  One was heard.  The sentry was killed by a blow to the head.  Biggles asks if the visitor would have been challenged if he was thought to be a friend of the sheikh and the answer is he would have been welcomed with a greeting.  Biggles says he is inquiring into another murder on the opposite coast and it is possible both murders were committed by the same man.  Biggles asks if the son of the sheikh knew a Royal Air Force officer named Bowden.  The man had heard of him from his father but had not meet him.  Bowden would have been shown the pearls, all of which were fine specimens as any smaller or misshapen ones were sold to a Greek dealer called Janapoulos, of Suakin, on the opposite coast.  The sheikh kept a book with detailed descriptions of his pearl collection and Biggles asks to borrow the book.  Biggles is told where Janapoulos lives, in a private house called the Villa Verde, in the Stretta Gonzales and he is told the dealer has a reputation for honesty.  Biggles and Ginger take their leave.  “A nice chap that,” remarked Ginger.  Biggles says “The thief who murdered his father might have turned a friend of ours into an enemy – particularly as it begins to look as if it may have been a Britisher”.  Biggles says all the evidence points to Bowden as having done the murder.  Why did he choose an Owlet, designed for night work, when, as he wasn’t paying for it he could presumably have had a faster machine?  Biggles thinks Renford was not involved.  “If I’m right it was a devilish scheme, for he must have determined all along to kill Renford”.  It would appear as if Bowden was dead in the crash and there would be no fuss, no bother and in a day or two the crash would be forgotten.  Biggles says the plane crash occurred not far from one of the few railways in that area, the line that runs from Atbara to Suakin and Port Sudan.  Bowden’s plan was well thought out.  Biggles believes Bowden shot Renford then bailed out and made his way to the railway.

 

“The short run to the African coast was soon made, and within two hours they were in the narrow street in the ancient port of Suakin wherein dwelt the man who bought the Sheikh’s surplus pearls”.  Biggles and Ginger go to see Mr Janapoulos and discovers that he was offered some very fine pearls only a few days ago.  “They were very fine.  Too fine, much too magnificent, alas, for my small purse” he says.  Biggles asks who brought them to him but the Greek says “I make it a rule never to discuss my clients”.  Biggles tells Janapoulos that Sheikh Ibn Usfa has been murdered and his pearls stolen.  Janapoulos then says the customer was a white Englishman, an officer of the Royal Air Force but he can’t quite remember his name.  Biggles asks if it was Bowden and that name is confirmed.  Janapoulos says he bought one small pearl for about five hundred pounds but he hadn’t heard of any pearls being stolen “and here news travels fast”.  Bowden asks the best place to dispose of his pearls and Janapoulos gave him the name and address of Cortons, in the Rue de la Paix, in Paris.  He also gave him a note of introduction.  Janapoulos gets a “rake-off” on such sales.  Janapoulos tells Biggles that Bowden caught a French boat, the Charbonniere, to Marseilles.  Biggles and Ginger leave and Biggles says they will fly to Le Bourget in France.  When they refuel at Alexandria, Biggles will ring Marcel (Brissac) at the Surete as they can’t make arrests in France.  Bowden is bound to make his way to Paris.  Biggles says Bowden’s one mistake in the whole scheme was buying an aircraft for a job it couldn’t possibly do.  It was the best type for a night landing, but not for the purpose for which he said he wanted it – the Cape record.

 

Marcel is waiting for them when the Proctor lands at the Paris airport.  The Charbonniere is due to dock in Marseilles that morning.  They all go for a meal and “Biggles gave his French colleague of the International Police Bureau the main facts of the case that had caused him to spend so much time in the air”.  They then go to see Monsieur Corton of Corton et Cie.  Marcel says “They are a big firm, very sound, and he will do whatever I ask.  They have the best pearls in the world”.  Biggles asks Corton to tell Bowden, when he arrives, that they will buy the pearls, but they need time to value them.  He gives Corton the inventory and description of the stolen pearls so Corton can check they were the ones stolen.  Corton can then ring Monsieur Brissac at Police Headquarters and they will come and arrest Bowden when he returns.  Shortly after three o’clock Marcel gets the phone call and they are told Bowden has arrived and would be returning at five precisely “to complete the sale if the valuation was agreed”.  The pearls were those described in the Sheikh’s book.  Marcel says he will take his two best men with him, “in case he objects” as “I do not like fighting with fists”.  Biggles says Bowden has a gun and he wants it for evidence that Bowden killed Renford.  With a trap set, Bowden arrives at the jewellers a few minutes after five.  He had shaved off his moustache.  Corton asks Bowden to confirm that the pearls are his and he says “definitely”.  “I picked them up one at a time while I was trading along the Malabar Coast”.  “Strange.  Pearls being my business I would have said they come out of the Red Sea,” observed Corton.  “There he may have gone a little too far”.  Suspicion flashed into Bowden’s eyes and he sees Biggles turn towards him.  The only explanation is that Bowden not only recognized Biggles but knew of his position in the Air Police.  Bowden makes a run for it and is out the door and into the street before he can be stopped.  Biggles and Ginger give chase.  “Suddenly the traffic had stopped.  There was a significant hush.  A woman screamed”.  Bowden has gone under the wheels of a lorry and has been killed.  The wheels went over him.  Biggles looked at Marcel.  “What a mess,” he muttered.  “What do you want us to do?”  “There is nothing you can do,” answered Marcel.  “You had better leave this to me.  I will attend to everything”.  “Thanks,” acknowledged Biggles.  “In that case I’ll push along home to tell my chief what has happened.  I’ll come back later.  Meantime, there are one or two things you can do for me.  Collect the pearls from Monsieur Corton, also the little book, the inventory, I left with him.  As soon as I’ve had a rest I’ll take them back to where they belong”.  Biggles concludes by saying “After we’ve tidied up at this end we’ll fly them back to the new sheikh, and do our best to explain that all officers are not like this scoundrel Bowden, otherwise anyone else having a forced landing on that coast is liable to have a thin time”.