SILVER SANDALS: A Blind Problemist Murder Mystery

SILVER SANDALSa bizarre 1916 THORNLEY COLTON, the "Blind Problemist" MURDER MYSTERYby Clinton H. Stagga "blind" amateur detective hunts an uncanny killer with "second sight" and the power to make the dead walk!Originally published 1916 by W. J. Watt & Co. Now in the public domain, this Kindle edition was hand-typed, copy-edited, and published by GideonFell Books, Ltd., May 2010.FROM Silver "My God, Mr. Colton!" the dining-room manager choked, flopping into a chair in his private office with the inertness of a jellyfish. "This is terrible! Terrible!" His tone suddenly became vehement. "It couldn't be! It isn't possible! His wrists couldn't be cut without attracting attention, and--" his voice was almost childishly triumphant as he jumped to his feet "--there would be blood!""You forgot that dead persons don't bleed," Thornley Colton reminded him seriously. "The death of that man occurred at least five hours ago.""Why, that's ridiculous! Ridiculous!" Manager Carl was pacing the floor like a caged tiger. "He has not been at the table more than half an hour.""Thirty-three minutes, to be exact," Colton said, his sightless eyes apparently fixed on the ceiling, his slim fingers in his vest pocket touching the face of his crystalless watch. "The strangeness of the couple, described by my secretary, immediately attracted my attention. Time usually has a peculiar significance in cases like this, and I try never to overlook the significant!""You--you mean he was dead when he came into the dining-room!" gasped Carl."Naturally." Colton's voice was dry."But he walked into the dining-room, man! He walked!"****a bizarre and complicated (not to say, convoluted) plot from the GOLDEN AGE of DETECTIVE FICTION, around the time Agatha Christie first began writing (actually she parodies this blind-detective in her short story collection PARTNERS IN CRIME).MURDER IN old MANHATTAN, a CORPSE AT THE CENTER OF A CROWDED HOTEL DINING ROOMWith a preface by the author on the creation of his BLIND DETECTIVE, Thornley Colton, a popular favorite in the short story magazines at the time this FIRST NOVEL-LENGTH adventure of the sleuth was published.