Release date is 2026-04-04

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

"Lord Lister No. 0044: Het briljanten halssnoer van Flora Palmerston" by Kurt Matull et al. is a pulp crime novella written in the early 20th century. It centers on gentleman-thief John C. Raffles (Lord Lister) as he navigates London’s high society, a vanished diamond necklace, and a web of crooks and compromised officials. The key players include Flora Palmerston, her absent patron Lord Orvis, the slippery “Count” Melrose, and the corrupt jewelers Peperling & Glanmore, with Scotland Yard’s Baxter hovering nearby. Expect clever disguises, secret passages, and a duel of wits rather than brute force.

The opening of the story follows Raffles answering a cryptic newspaper ad and visiting Flora under the alias “Mr. Mackenzie,” where he learns her heirloom necklace has been “stolen” and spots that the supposed imitation left behind is actually the real Lister family jewel. Suspecting the intruder is the faux noble Melrose—an ex-criminal and police stoolie tied to jewelers Peperling & Glanmore—Raffles hides in Flora’s “Eastern room,” observes Melrose’s attempt to bully her with claims of counterfeit banknotes, then slips out via a secret passage, leaving a note instructing her to alert Inspector Baxter. Raffles promptly manipulates Peperling in a nearby bar, flashing the necklace to draw him to his shop, while Melrose dashes to Scotland Yard to betray both Raffles and Peperling. The section closes with Baxter mobilizing a raid, believing Raffles will be at Peperling’s premises, setting the stage for the first big confrontation. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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