MURDER BY AIR
First Published in book form in August 1937 - 252 pages
Originally published in THE THRILLER magazine on 16th
and 23rd January 1937
Also published in FLYING magazine in April and May 1938
Again, the narrator, Eric
"Tubby" Wilde, tells this story in the first person. A year has
passed and Steeley is over from America and having a reunion meal with Tubby
and Brian Ballantyne, although Brian is late. Brian has been delayed at an inquest
into the death of an ex-RAF pilot working for the police by the name of Brance.
Brance has been killed in a plane crash and his last words were, bizarrely,
"mind the dog, the white dog". Inspector Wayne arrives and discusses
the case and asks Steeley, Tubby and Brian to help him solve it. Steeley goes
to investigate the scene of the crime and finds strange depressions in the
ground, as if made with the end of a heavy cane or walking stick. Flying away,
our heroes see another plane land near a remote cowshed and they go to
investigate. The pilot is a girl who has just returned from France bringing
with her she says, a very dear friend, a white dog. Steeley withdraws
gracefully, but he is convinced that the "girl" was really a man.
Returning to their base at a nearby flying club, our heroes have their first
encounter with Count Cortusoides, a Greek millionaire. He is a man who walks
with a heavy walking stick and various other clues point to him having been at
the scene of Brance's death. When the Count leaves, Tubby has cause to lend his
aircraft to one of the club's instructors called Jerry Larkin. Jerry is killed
in a crash and it becomes clear that Tubby's plane had been sabotaged. Steeley
decides to go and investigate Gartholme Towers, the home of Count Cortusoides,
as it is quite close to the cowshed where the "girl" with the white
dog landed. Unexpectedly they meet the Count in his grounds and find themselves
invited in for a drink. Steeley lets slip that he himself was a villain and
tells some true tales of what they have got up to in the past. As they leave, a
strange female throws them a note claiming to be a prisoner and asking to be
saved. The Count has a number of aircraft on his property and when one of them
flies away, Steeley gets Brian to steal another of his planes in order to
follow it. Arranging to meet Brian when he returns at the field where Brance
was murdered, Steeley and Tubby are astonished to see Brian's plane return but
with the Count on board! Returning to the clubhouse, Brian is there. The Count
plays cat and mouse with them all and obviously knows a lot more than he is
letting on. Our heroes all return to Gartholme Towers with the Count where one
of the Count's pilot's called Bromfelt causes a scene and the Count has him
killed in a clever way. The Count asks Steeley to work for him and Steeley
agrees. Our heroes all stay the night and in the morning, Steeley and Tubby are
sent to the South of France whilst Brian is held back at the Towers, clearly as
a hostage. On their return they are arrested by the police as they have ten
pounds of drugs on board, the Count has set them up! The Count then sends his
men to help them escape but now, as Steeley and Tubby are "wanted"
men, he has a hold over them. The Count then reveals the extent of his operations
to Steeley and Tubby. The next job that the Count has for them is to take a
mystery man referred to only as "Mr. X" to Germany. This Steeley and
Tubby do, but they are forced to land in France. When Steeley's aircraft is
shot at by French Air Force planes, "Mr. X" is killed. Steeley
searches his body and finds some top-secret plans of a new aircraft. Eventually
reaching their appointed rendezvous, Steeley and Tubby find the Count already
there. He is furious at what has happened. The Count is with his 'daughter' who
is called Helene, and she is the "girl" that Steeley suspected was a
man, the one who had the white dog. Helene flies the Count, Steeley and Tubby
back to England but the Count discovers that Steeley has the plans that
"Mr. X" was carrying and had been lying when he said he knew nothing
about them. Needless to say, there are problems in the plane and it lands near
the French coast. Here the Count murders a French gendarme and escapes with
Helene in the plane. Steeley and Tubby are forced to steal a plane to get back
to England. Steeley knows they have to return to Gartholme Towers but firstly
goes to investigate the cowshed nearby. At some nearby ruins a secret passage
to the Towers is discovered when the mysterious woman prisoner at the Towers
appears. Brian has helped her to escape and he is still at the Towers. This
woman is the real Helene and she is not the Count's daughter, but his cousin.
The Count has stolen her fortune and kept her prisoner ever since. Tubby is
sent to take Helene to safety and get Inspector Wayne and the police. The Count
captures Tubby but Helene gets away. Tubby is locked in a tower room but by
climbing out on the window ledge is able to get to another room and escape.
Tubby finds Brian and sets him free. Trying to escape via the secret passage,
they meet with Steeley coming the other way. He is being pursued. A tricky
situation is resolved by the arrival of Wayne and the police. The Count and his
gang try to escape by plane but they are killed in a plane crash.
Murder by Air
Subtitle - none
Publication Details - originally published by George Newnes
First edition
Second edition