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Flawed execution hardware creates a long-reaching criminal legacy.

A botched guillotining in Toulouse due to an ill-placed nail allows the condemned killer Lightman to survive. Eleven years later, an unseen driver in a hooded cowl recruits desperate men into a shadow network called the Crimson Circle. Wealthy targets receive red-stamped blackmail demands, while psychic detective Derrick Yale joins James Beardmore to counter the threat. Meanwhile, young Jack Beardmore falls for Harvey Froyant's mysterious secretary, Thalia Drummond.

Prologue. The Nail → Chapter VII. The Stolen Idol

Petty theft masks deeper motives within an emerging blackmail network.

Harvey Froyant charges his secretary Thalia Drummond with stealing a valuable antique Buddha after he refuses her a small loan. In court, Thalia pleads guilty despite Jack Beardmore's desperate attempts to defend her character. After serving a brief detention, she advertises for new clerical work while maintaining a defiant exterior. A mysterious card bearing a crimson ring soon arrives, directing her to a late-night vehicular rendezvous.

Chapter VIII. The Charge → Chapter XIV. Thalia is Asked Out

Desperate criminals target rich mark while hidden threats escalate.

Notorious crook Flush Barnet enlists Thalia to help rob Felix Marl of sixty-two thousand pounds freshly withdrawn from the bank. Jack Beardmore warns Thalia about Barnet's criminal past, but she proceeds to dine at Marl's Bayswater home. When Marl locks the drawing room door to assault her, Thalia pulls a live Mills hand grenade from her evening bag and pulls the pin. Forced to unlock the door, Marl cowers in terror as she makes her escape.

Chapter XV. Thalia Joins the Gang → Chapter XX.

Audacious robberies exploit impossible escapes and hidden vantage points.

Derrick Yale and Inspector Parr search an abandoned riverside property for the absconding banker Brabazon. To trap the Crimson Circle, Yale locks himself inside his office with forty thousand pounds of Froyant's cash while police watch the corridors. The intruder strikes silently, leaving Yale chloroformed and bound while the money vanishes through an unreachable window. Unseen by the investigators, Thalia emerges from a concealed cabinet inside the empty room.

Chapter XXI. River House → Chapter XXVIII. A Shot in the Night

Unofficial detective work uncovers a killer's origin and true identity.

Driven by monetary loss, Harvey Froyant independently traces stolen bank notes back to Toulouse legal records. He discovers that Lightman bore a distinctive red birthmark around his neck and escaped penal servitude in Cayenne. Froyant solves the Crimson Circle's core secret but fails to protect himself before disaster strikes. Meanwhile, Thalia receives a delivery containing a sharp razor-edged blade and a long left-handed gauntlet glove.

Chapter XXIX. “The Red Circle” → Chapter XXXIV.

Widespread conspiracy infiltration destabilizes high-level government circles.

Derrick Yale accuses police headquarters of harbouring a Crimson Circle informant while Thalia cultivates an association with Cabinet Minister Raphael Willings. Yale dismisses Thalia from his employment, unaware that her social maneuvering fulfills instructions from the syndicate's chief. The Crimson Circle convenes a silent midnight assembly of its one hundred disguised members inside the ancient church of St. Agnes. Arrested shortly thereafter, Thalia stages a daring prison escape.

Chapter XXXV. Thalia Lunches with a Cabinet Minister → Chapter…

Unmasked leadership transforms suspect and detective roles alike.

Inspector Parr gathers officials at the Prime Minister's residence to deliver his final findings on Lightman's career. Reaching out, Parr rips away Derrick Yale's high collar to reveal a blood-red circle birthmark around the detective's neck. Mastermind Yale is arrested, while Thalia is revealed to be Parr's daughter working undercover to dismantle the syndicate from within. Cleared of suspicion, Thalia reunites with Jack Beardmore as the mystery reaches its conclusion.

Chapter XLI. Who is The Crimson Circle? → Chapter XLIII.

Book

The Crimson Circle

Unmask a sinister blackmail syndicate through crime, psychometry, hidden identities, and a detective's secret undercover operation.

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