Master tales of mystery, Volume 2 (of 3)

"Master tales of mystery, Volume 2 (of 3)" by Francis J. Reynolds is a collection of mystery short stories written in the early 20th century. It gathers ingenious, puzzle-driven crime tales by leading popular writers, rich with locked rooms, impossible escapes, and cerebral detection. The opening selections spotlight the hyper-logical Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen—“The Thinking Machine”—and his reporter ally Hutchinson Hatch confronting baffling, seemingly insoluble problems. Readers who enjoy classic, brain-teasing mysteries anchored in pure reason will be well served.

The opening of the collection presents The Problem of Cell 13, where Van Dusen wagers he can escape a death cell in a week under strict, prison-like conditions. Observing a disused drain revealed by rats, he sends a linen note and money outward via a tethered rat, establishes a wire “trolley” to communicate with Hatch, and quietly acquires supplies; meanwhile he misdirects the warden with ciphers, sham sawing, and a failed bribe, even triggering a terrified upstairs prisoner who overhears “acid” and “No. 8 hat” through the pipes. On the final night he cuts the yard’s arc light feed, dons an electrician’s disguise brought in by Hatch, and walks back to the warden’s office as his cell still appears occupied—then explains the logic of every step. The opening then shifts to The Scarlet Thread: Hatch brings a new case of a Back Bay broker, Weldon Henley, repeatedly found nearly asphyxiated when his night gas light mysteriously goes out and the room fills with gas; a resident maid is soon found dead by gas in a locked room. After inspecting jets, windows, the basement meter access, and a flagpole rope from which he plucks a scarlet fiber, Van Dusen declares the maid was murdered by a horribly simple method, warns that Henley is in grave danger, and sends Hatch to probe motives among business enemies, romantic rivals, and anyone with nocturnal access to the building. (This is an automatically generated summary.)