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The Three Musketeers
NOTE: This criminal profile is being constructed as the stories are read and must therefore be regarded as incomplete and work in progress.
Introduction to this Criminal Trio for the Benefit of New Readers
They seem like three young men-about-town, out to enjoy themselves dancing at the most popular clubs, attending race meetings, and enjoying the social glitz and glamour of 1920's London. So often are they seen in each others' company that they have become known as The Three Musketeers. They are the most Bertie Wooster-type of men:— Algy Somerton has not been blessed with good looks. His forehead recedes so sharply that it would appear grotesque were it not covered by a mop of hair. He has goggling, inane eyes, with a monocle that he can hardly keep in, a nondescript nose, weak mouth, and receding chin. His manner matches it, and the drawl he affects is a clear indication that the supply of brains had run out when he was made. Archie "Fairy" Pherison fares better in the looks department. He is a tall, handsome young man, with thin blonde hair sliced back close to his round head. But Like Algy, his eyes are somewhat vacant in expression. His nose is short and rather too broad and his upper lip is decorated with a faint wisp of light hair which might, perhaps, be a misplaced eyebrow. Fairy walks with a slight stoop, as though his body were too weary to carry the burden of his head. The third musketeer, Reggie "Cupid" Fetherston, is plump and pink and guileless. He has brown hair and eyes, chubby cheeks and a merry, if rather dumb, look about him. Together, these three appear to be the most harmless and brainless trio imaginable. But in the privacy of their shared home, the facade falls away. The glazed eyes snap into sharp focus, the lazy voices become incisive and commanding, the bumbling mannerisms vanish, and the seemingly idiotic characters reveal themselves as three of the most cunning, determined and downright brutal criminal personalities that the law enforcement agencies have ever had to face. These men are without any thought for their victims; they are utterly callous, completely ruthless... and totally coimmitted to crime. Chronology: 1. The Wireless Telephone Clue (UNION JACK issue 977, 1922) The Three Musketeers burgle an aristocrat's house and attempt to offload the proceeds through a fence in Paris. Tinker accidentally intercepts their radio communications which leads to Sexton Blake recovering the stolen property, though he fails to capture the criminal trio. 2. The Bandits of Bruyeres (UNION JACK issue 991, 1922) In Paris, the Musketeers kidnap rich American tourists and hold them for ransom. Blake tracks them to their base and stages a raid. He is wounded in the arm during a vicious gunfight and cannot prevent the three criminals from escaping in a biplane. 3. The Thousandth Chance (UNION JACK issue 1,000, 1922) The Musketeers join forces with Doctor Huxton Rymer, Prince Wu Ling, Mary Trent, The Black Duchess, Leon Kestrel, Zenith the Albino, George Marsden Plummer and Professor Kew to rob Sexton Blake of his store of treasures. The plan fails but Wu Ling reimburses them for their efforts. 4. The Diamond Special (UNION JACK issue 1,001, 1922) The Musketeers pull off a massive diamond heist in Paris. Three months later, Sexton Blake is in Cairo hunting Prince Hamad, a dangerous seditionist. He finds the Musketeers in his quarry's company and narrowly escapes death. Fleeing back to Baker Street, Blake starts planning how to capture the villains... 5. The Palace of Mystery (UNION JACK issue 1,004, 1923) Sexton Blake returns to Cairo in the guise of a seditious carpet weaver. His outspoken opposition to British rule earns him an invitation from Prince Hamad. When the detective finds himself in the company of the prince and The Three Musketeers, he attempts to capture them. They escape during a ferocious gunfight and flee the city... leaving their haul of jewels behind. 6. The Sceptre of Solomon (UNION JACK issue 1,018, 1923) A millionaire art collector named Mathew Cardolak commissions the Three Musketeers to steal a valuable jewish sceptre. They succeed but Sexton Blake engages with them in America, recovers the artifact and captures the three criminals. He hands them over to the US police. 7. The Case of the Crippled Monk (UNION JACK issue 1,042, 1923) Mathew Cardolak breaks the Musketeers out of prison and commissions them to steal the famous Louis Ostensoir from Notre Dame cathedral. They do so but their getaway is witnessed by Tinker. Sexton Blake and the French police intercept them. The Musketeers manage to escape but without the Ostensoir. 8. The Quest of the Jewelled Globe (UNION JACK issue 1,083, 1924) 9. The Mystery of the Seine (THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 366, 1925) 10. The Adventure of the Five Giants (UNION JACK issue 1,147, 1925) 11. The Great Canal Plot (THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 19, 1925) More to come... ... |
