Never-Fail Blake

Never-Fail Blake by Arthur Stringer is about the life of second deputy Detective Jim Blake, a womanizer who pursues lovely women with passionate intention. Excerpt: «Blake, the Second Deputy, raised his gloomy hound's eyes as the door opened and a woman stepped in. Then he dropped them again. „Hello, Elsie!“ he said, without looking at her. The woman stood a moment staring at him. Then she advanced thoughtfully toward his table desk. „Hello, Jim!“ she answered, as she sank into the empty chair at the desk end. The rustling of silk suddenly ceased. An aphrodisiac odor of ambergris crept through the Deputy-Commissioner's office. The woman looped up her veil, festooning it about the undulatory roll of her hat brim. Blake continued his solemnly preoccupied study of the desktop. „You sent for me,“ the woman finally said. It was more a reminder than a question. And the voice, for all its quietness, carried no sense of timidity.»