A thrilling murder mystery. When the narrator bumps into an old friend of his at Olympia, who has recently remarried, he is invited to dinner at Chislehurst to meet the new wife. When they arrive however, it appears that the lady has gone to visit her mother in Worthing, and due to problems with the motor car, she will not return until the next day. The two men enjoy a good dinner, with whisky afterward, and the host also takes three aspirin for his cold. The narrator catches the last train back to London. Next morning he is surprised by an early morning visit from the police. His friend has died in the night, and the circumstances seem decidedly fishy... and the more the narrator looks into the matter, the fishier it becomes.
Author
Leslie Harrison Lambert, known as A.J. Alan, was an English magician, intelligence officer, short story writer and radio broadcaster. Lambert contacted a member of the then British Broadcasting Company to suggest he might tell one of his own short stories on the radio. This was accepted and so, as A. J. Alan, he broadcast My Adventure in Jermyn Street, on 31 January 1924. Following his immediate success, he quickly became one of the most popular broadcasting personalities of the time. He went to considerable trouble over writing each story, taking a couple of months over each one, and only broadcasting about five times a year. He carefully constructed an apparently extemporary, conversational, style making his stories seem like anecdotes concerning strange events that had happened to him. The endings were whimsical and unexpected. Contrary to the common belief that his stories were told "off the cuff", Lambert took immense care over his broadcasts which were, of course, live. He used cards rather than papers to avoid rustling noises and kept a candle lit in case the lights failed.[1][8] He always wore a dinner jacket and Stuart Hibberd described him as "a neat figure in perfectly cut evening dress, with eye glass and a slim black brief case". It was known that "A. J. Alan" was not his true name but only once, in 1933, was his identity guessed when an old school friend, by then living in Jamaica, recognised his voice. Many of his stories were subsequently printed in newspapers and magazines and were included in anthologies of short stories. Three collections of his stories have been published. From 1937 his health was not good so he reduced his radio work and made his last broadcast on 21 March 1940. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.\_J....]
