"That's Why We're Here. It's Impossible!"

"Right Before Your Eyes."

(a.k.a. "The Hiding Place").

By Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr, 1906-77; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the IMDb HERE; and Wikipedia HERE).

First appearance: The Strand Magazine, February 1939, as "The Hiding Place" (as by Carter Dickson).

Reprinted in EQMM, April 1966 (today's text).

Other reprints:

  Detection Medley (1939) (reviews HERE and HERE)

  The Strand Magazine “Colonial Edition,” March 1939

  Line-Up (1940) (revision of Detection Medley).

Short story (11 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE; go to text page 99).

(Note: £23,000 equaled $57,914 in 1940, a sizeable haul.)

   "You told me, with an accuracy beyond your wildest knowledge, that the money was hot."

CHIEF INSPECTOR AMES must reluctantly admit that £23,000 in hard cash stolen from a St. James bank has simply vanished, even though they did a thorough search of their prime suspect's lodgings. "There wasn't a hiding place for so much as a pound note," he tells Colonel March, "let alone a sackful of the stuff." Young Marjorie Dawson herself saw it happen—or didn't see it, if you get what we mean. Their prime suspect disavows any knowledge of it, and the police, not surprisingly, are baffled. But never fear, Colonel March is on the case. After all, as he admits with justifiable pride, "I am the Department of Queer Complaints" . . .

Principal characters:

~ Skipper Morgan, Pudge Henderson, Slugger Dean, and Bill Stein (the perps), Chief Inspector Ames ("Getting rid of 'hot' money used to be difficult; but it's simple now"), the Assistant Commissioner ("be careful, Ames; he's got a lot of influence"), John Parrish ("Don't you believe a word of it"), Marjorie Dawson ("She told the Chief Inspector things which made him swear"), Mr. Ireton Bowlder ("Scotland Yard regarded him with disfavor because he never failed to put their backs up"), and Colonel March ("Disappearing money. That is better; that is distinctly better").

Typo: "Mr. Bowler laughed".

References and resources:

- "the St. James office":

  "St James's is a predominantly commercial area with some of the highest rents in London and, consequently, the world. The auction house Christie's is based in King Street, and the surrounding streets contain many upmarket art and antique dealers . . ." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "a .45 caliber revolver":

  This being England, it might have been a Webley:

  "The Webley Revolver (also known as the Webley Top-Break Revolver or Webley Self-Extracting Revolver) was, in various designations, a standard issue service revolver for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, and countries of the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, from 1887 to 1963." (Wikipedia (HERE.)

- "the Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin":

  "Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin is a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin made his first appearance in Poe's 1841 short story 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', widely considered the first detective fiction story. He reappears in 'The Mystery of Marie Rogêt' (1842) and 'The Purloined Letter' (1844)." (Wikipedia HERE.) Also see (HERE).

- "in Victorian Gothic":

  "Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century, mostly in England. Increasingly serious and learned admirers sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, intending to complement or even supersede the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- For reactions to other Colonel March adventures, see locked room expert TomCat's review at Beneath the Stains of Time (HERE). For his take on the '50s TV series, see (HERE).

- A couple of other Colonel March stories ("New Murders for Old" and "The Silver Curtain") received some attention on Steve Lewis's Mystery*File (HERE). Dickson has been getting noticed off and on at Mystery'File since 2007; see "Search Results" (HERE).

- It hasn't been too long since we observed another JDC/Carter Dickson production featuring the redoubtable Colonel March, "The Lion's Paw" (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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