The Pit-Prop Syndicate

By Freeman Wills Crofts


Contents

[PART ONE. THE AMATEURS]
[CHAPTER I. THE SAWMILL ON THE LESQUE]
[CHAPTER II. AN INTERESTING SUGGESTION]
[CHAPTER III. THE START OF THE CRUISE]
[CHAPTER IV. A COMMERCIAL PROPOSITION]
[CHAPTER V. THE VISIT OF THE “GIRONDIN”]
[CHAPTER VI. A CHANGE OF VENUE]
[CHAPTER VII. THE FERRIBY DEPOT]
[CHAPTER VIII. THE UNLOADING OF THE “GIRONDIN”]
[CHAPTER IX. THE SECOND CARGO]
[CHAPTER X. MERRIMAN BECOMES DESPERATE]
[CHAPTER XI. AN UNEXPECTED ALLY]
[PART TWO. THE PROFESSIONALS]
[CHAPTER XII. MURDER!]
[CHAPTER XIII. A PROMISING CLUE]
[CHAPTER XIV. A MYSTIFYING DISCOVERY]
[CHAPTER XV. INSPECTOR WILLIS LISTENS IN]
[CHAPTER XVI. THE SECRET OF THE SYNDICATE]
[CHAPTER XVII. “ARCHER PLANTS STUFF”]
[CHAPTER XVIII. THE BORDEAUX LORRIES]
[CHAPTER XIX. WILLIS SPREADS HIS NET]
[CHAPTER XX. THE DOUBLE CROSS]

PART ONE.
THE AMATEURS

CHAPTER I.
THE SAWMILL ON THE LESQUE

Seymour Merriman was tired; tired of the jolting saddle of his motor bicycle, of the cramped position of his arms, of the chug of the engine, and most of all, of the dreary, barren country through which he was riding. Early that morning he had left Pau, and with the exception of an hour and a half at Bayonne, where he had lunched and paid a short business call, he had been at it ever since. It was now after five o’clock, and the last post he had noticed showed him he was still twenty-six kilometers from Bordeaux, where he intended to spend the night.

“This confounded road has no end,” he thought. “I really must stretch my legs a bit.”