Inspector French’s Greatest Case · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Inspector French’s Greatest Case by Freeman Wills Crofts.

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Chapter 1
I: Murder!
On a dreary November evening in Hatton Garden, Constable James Alcorn discovers the body of Charles Gething, murdered in the office of Duke & Peabody. Inspector French arrives to investigate, finding the safe open and a large sum of money missing. Mr. Duke, the senior partner, arrives and confirms the loss of £14,000 in securities and £1,000 in notes, expressing his financial ruin. French begins his investigation, interviewing staff and securing the scene.
Chapter 2
II: The Firm of Duke and Peabody
Inspector French interviews Mr. Duke and the clerk Orchard about the murder of Charles Gething. Mr. Duke describes the firm's structure and staff, expresses full confidence in Gething, and reveals the mystery of the safe key. Orchard provides a clear account of his evening, and French discovers evidence including a filed key, a stoked fire, and a bloodstained poker with a white hair, leading him to consider Gething or Orchard as suspects.
Chapter 3
III: Gathering the Threads
Inspector French investigates the murder of Charles Gething, weighing evidence of financial motive against Gething's known character. He forms a tentative theory that Gething planned to steal from the safe but was killed by an opportunistic thief. French interviews Stanley Harrington, who is engaged to Sylvia Duke, and checks his alibi. He also traces the safe key to the bank, confirms the theft of £1,000 in notes, and pursues leads on the stolen diamonds and notes, but days pass without progress.
Chapter 4
IV: Missing
Ten days after the murder of Charles Gething, Inspector French receives a call from Mr. Duke, who reports that his traveling agent Vanderkemp has disappeared from the Amsterdam office. French travels to Amsterdam to investigate and discovers that a letter purportedly from Mr. Duke ordering Vanderkemp to London is a forgery, raising suspicions that Vanderkemp may be involved in the crime.
Chapter 5
French Takes a Journey
Inspector French receives news that two of the stolen banknotes have been paid into a bank in Reading by Colonel FitzGeorge. He travels to Reading to interview the Colonel, who believes he received the notes from the manager of the Hotel Beau-Sejour in Chamonix. French is left with an uncertain lead, as the trail may prove to be a dead end.

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I: Murder!

II: The Firm of Duke and Peabody

III: Gathering the Threads

IV: Missing

French Takes a Journey