Release date is 2025-12-30

Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg

"Lord Lister No. 0039: De krankzinnige van Hanwell" by Matull and Blankensee is a pulp crime-adventure novella written in the early 20th century. It follows gentleman-thief John Raffles (Lord Lister) and his aide Charly Brand as they take aim at a Dutch millionaire and his French accomplice whose wealth rests on sordid trafficking, while Inspector Baxter struggles to catch them. Expect audacious disguises, a daring bank ruse, a nocturnal abduction-rescue, and a twist that turns one villain into the titular “madman of Hanwell.” The tale mixes high-society intrigue in London with a tender subplot around Van Brixen’s daughter Antje and her true love.

The opening of the story shows Raffles, posing as “markies d’Armand,” infiltrating a lavish party at Van Brixen’s house, where he overhears a cash dispute between Van Brixen and Jean Fournier and learns that Antje loves the young merchant Fred Herbes. Raffles befriends Fournier, tricks him into providing a notarized specimen of his signature, witnesses the payoff of 50,000 pounds, and—after a staged detour in the fog—persuades Fournier to hand over the cash “for deposit,” then uses the notarized signature to draw a further 40,000 at the Bank of England. He coordinates with Fred, scales the house at night, and spirits Antje away via a rope ladder, sending the couple off by train with her 20,000-pound dowry and her father’s necklace. In the morning he reveals himself by telephone, leaving Van Brixen and Fournier a letter that explains the theft-as-justice and taunts them, while Inspector Baxter launches a pursuit that briefly sights Raffles during a dramatic child rescue at a city fire. Weeks later Raffles returns disguised as a gravely ill Van Brixen with Charly as a servant, coaxes Baxter into arranging the sale and demolition of the house, then outwits Fournier during a visit, leading Baxter—duped by appearances—to have the raving Frenchman bound and carried off to an asylum. The section closes with the impending sale of Van Brixen’s property, hinting at further moves in Raffles’s scheme. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Amsterdam: Roman- Boek- en Kunsthandel, 1910