"Lord Lister No. 0042: Ongewenschte wraak" by Kurt Matull and Theo von Blankensee is a serialized crime novella written in the early 20th century. It follows the gentleman-thief Lord Lister (Raffles) and his aide Charly Brand as they take on a brazen crime committed in Raffles’s name and the apparent ruin of a prominent shipowner. Expect disguises, duels of wits with Scotland Yard, and a campaign to help the innocent while unmasking high-society corruption.The opening of the story finds Lister in Café Austria plotting to “steal” a set of counterfeit notes to save a repentant artist, when newsboys trumpet a sensational “new trick of Raffles”: Apsley & Co.’s safe has been looted and an intruder strangled. Disguised as an American, Lister visits the scene, sparring politely with Captain Baxter and witnessing the shipowner Apsley and his son brandishing a telegram “from Raffles” and a tale of lasso self-defense; Dr. Warrens briefly revives the dead cracksman, whom Lister thinks whispers “zelf.” Edward Burton, a young engineer, arrives in despair because his submarine design stored in the safe is gone, and he’s summarily dismissed. Lister sends Charly to shadow the Apsleys; they trace the father to a West End flat under an alias, uncover a hidden cupboard holding the entire £50,000, and deduce a staged robbery and the murder of the hired safe-breaker. Lister swaps the cache for high-grade forgeries, takes the real money, vows to ruin the Apsleys, and pursues Burton’s missing plans…
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