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[Page 1] A Collection of Short Mystery Stories Featuring the illustrious characters: Mr. A. J. Raffles Mr. Sherlock Holmes Father Brown and Lady Molly of Scotland Yard This E-book was created from public domain texts from Project Gutenberg , edited and formatted by Candida Martinelli of Candida Martinelli’s Italophile Site . [Page 2] Contents i Contents From The Amateur Cracksman , by E. W. Hornung, 1899 1 THE IDES OF MARCH 1 A COSTUME PIECE 18 From The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, 1927 31 THE ADVENTURE OF THE MAZARIN STONE 31 THE PROBLEM OF THOR BRIDGE 48 From The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton, 1911 70 THE BLUE CROSS 70 THE SECRET GARDEN 85 From Lady Molly of Scotland Yard by Baroness Orczy, 1910 101 THE NINESCORE MYSTERY 101 THE END 116 [Page 3] Raffles - The Ides of March 1 From The Amateur Cracksman , by E. W. Hornung, 1899 E. W. Hornung has some thing in common with Arthur Conan Doyle. They both authored over a dozen serious literary novels, but their lasting fame came through their light ‘entertainments’, Mr. Hornung for Raffles, and Mr. Doyle for Holmes. Another thing they had in common was Mr. Doyle’s sister, Connie. Mr. Hornung made her his wife. A. J. Raffles, the gentleman thief, was popular from the first publication in 1899. Raffles was first featured in a film in 1905, a silent film, and he has starred in films and television shows ever since. If you read the stories from beginning to end, you’ll see something very interesting. Mr. Hornung progresses Raffles’s deeply flawed character along it’s inevitable path to his self-destruction. The series becomes progressively darker and darker. The two stories I include in this collection, are the first two stories about A. J. Raffles, and show clearly his addiction to adrenaline, and not-always successful life of crime. THE IDES OF MARCH I It was half-past twelve when I returned to the Albany as a last desperate resort. The scene of my disaster was much as I had left it. The baccarat-counters still strewed the table, with the empty glasses and the loaded ash-trays. A window had been opened to let the smoke out, and was letting in the fog instead. Raffles himself had merely discarded his dining jacket for one of his innumerable blazers. Yet he arched his eyebrows as though I had dragged him from his bed. "Forgotten something?" said he, when he saw me on his mat. "No," said I, pushing past him without ceremony. And I led the way into his room with an impudence amazing to myself. "Not come back for your revenge, have you? Because I'm afraid I can't give it to you single- handed. I was sorry myself that the others--" [Page 4] Raffles - The Ides of March 2 We were face to face by his fireside, and I cut him short. "Raffles," said I, "you may well be surprised at my coming