Kate Plus 10 · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for Kate Plus 10 by Edgar Wallace.
Chapter 1
I: Eighty-Three Pearls on a String
Lord Flanborough summons Inspector Michael Pretherston to investigate the disappearance of Lady Moya Felton's pearl necklace. Michael quickly finds the pearls caught on a hook in her fur cloak, but during the visit he also recognizes the secretary, Kate Westhanger, as a former associate of criminals. He confronts her, threatening to invoke the Prevention of Crimes Act, and she leaves the household. The chapter also reveals Michael and Moya's past romantic engagement, which ended due to their incompatible views.
Chapter 2
II: Mike Said Nothing—There Was Nothing to Say
Michael Pretherston interrogates Lord Flanborough about Kate Westhanger, who has been working as a secretary under the alias Miss Tenby. Michael reveals Kate's true identity as a master criminal and the brains behind a major criminal organization, while Lord Flanborough remains oblivious to the danger. The chapter ends with Michael reflecting on Kate's philosophy of loyalty and betrayal.
Chapter 3
III: Other Eyes Watched Michael
Michael Pretherston returns to Scotland Yard and receives a warning from Commissioner T. B. Smith about Kate's dangerous nature and the need to protect himself. Ignoring the advice, Michael conducts a solitary reconnaissance of Crime Street, a hidden enclave of criminals in Amberscombe Gardens. The chapter describes the layout of Crime Street and its various criminal inhabitants, including Dr. Philip Garon, Mr. Cunningham, the Bishop, Mr. Colling Jacques, Millet, H. Mulberry, Señor Gregori, the Stockmar brothers, and Colonel Westhanger. Michael is watched by multiple eyes, including Colonel Westhanger and Gregori, who discuss their dislike of him and plan to follow him.
Chapter 4
IV: “The Ideal Criminal Is a Strategist”
Kate Westhanger and the Colonel discuss the morality of their criminal life, Kate's philosophical doubts, and Gregori's impatience. Kate asserts her strategic role in the gang, while the Colonel and Gregori later plan a new, daring enterprise.
Chapter 5
V: A Chorus Girl at Sebo’s
At Sebo's Club, Reggie Boltover, a wealthy but naive young man, dines with Vera Flemming, a chorus girl he has become infatuated with. Their conversation reveals Reggie's incompetence in business and his fascination with Vera, who shows interest in his wealth and power. The chapter ends with a dramatic moment when a waiter attempts to stab Vera, but Michael Pretherston intervenes, recognizing her as Kate.
Chapter 6
VI: Kate Came to the Flat
Michael Pretherston reports the attempted stabbing of Kate Westhanger at Sebo's Club to Commissioner T. B. Smith, who assigns him to investigate. Michael deduces Kate's deeper scheme involving Reggie Boltover and confronts her at his flat, where she reveals her ambition to execute a grand theft. Their conversation oscillates between flirtation and rivalry, culminating in Michael's unexpected proposal of marriage.
Chapter 7
VII: The Princess Bacheffski—Beautifully Dressed
Lord Flanborough hosts a dinner party where Moya insists on inviting Michael Pretherston over her father's objections. The dinner is dull, with Sir Ralph Sapson and other titled guests. Michael and Sir Ralph exchange barbed remarks. After leaving early, Sir Ralph encounters a beautifully dressed woman whose car has broken down. She introduces herself as the Princess Bacheffski, claims to have met him in Paris, and asks for hospitality. She confides that she is hiding from her husband Dimitri and staying in a flat in Half Moon Street. Sir Ralph, flattered, agrees to keep her secret and looks forward to renewing the acquaintance.
Chapter 8
An Artist Makes an Exhibition of Himself
Lady Moya Felton visits an art exhibition where she meets the artist, Alphonso Blaxton, who candidly admits his paintings are monstrosities. Meanwhile, Sir Ralph Sapson discusses the gold train logistics with the Princess Bacheffski in his car, revealing sensitive details about the train's timetable and security.
Chapter 9
IX: The Shareholders and an Interruption
Michael Pretherston confronts Colonel Westhanger, accusing him of corrupting Kate and threatening to imprison him. After the police leave, Kate holds a shareholders' meeting with the Crime Street gang, distributing detailed plans for a major crime and insisting all papers be burned before they depart.
Chapter 10
X: Sir Ralph Lost a Princess and Found a Policeman
Sir Ralph Sapson visits Michael Pretherston at Scotland Yard to discuss two troubling matters: the mysterious disappearance of the Princess Bacheffski, whom he met in Paris and who has now vanished from London, and his fiancée Lady Moya Felton's suspected flirtation with an artist named Alphonso Blaxton. Michael grows suspicious when Sir Ralph describes the Princess's distinctive mole, recognizing it as matching Kate Westhanger, and begins to see a pattern linking Sir Ralph, Lord Flanborough, and Reggie Boltover.
Chapter 11
XI: Lady Moya Was Curiously Unlike Herself
Michael meets Kate in a park, where she cryptically hints at a major criminal scheme involving Lord Flanborough and Sir Ralph Sapson, whom she has arranged to be out of London. Meanwhile, Lady Moya goes on a sketching trip with Alphonso Blaxton, leading to a romantic moment between them. Later, two explosions occur in Moorgate Street and Bartholomew Close, but nothing is stolen, leading Michael and T. B. Smith to suspect a diversion for a larger plot.
Chapter 12
XII: A Motor Car Was Met by a Special Train
Lady Moya Felton defies her father Lord Flanborough and breaks her engagement to Sir Ralph Sapson, declaring her love for the impoverished Alphonso Blaxton. Meanwhile, Michael Pretherston meets them at the station and supports Moya's decision. The chapter also follows Moya and Alphonso's joyful but perilous motor journey through Kent, culminating in a dangerous approach to a level crossing.
Chapter 13
XIV: The Remarkable Train That Did Strange Tricks
Michael Pretherston investigates the theft of a gold train, deducing that Kate (the Princess Bacheffski) orchestrated the heist. He interviews Sir Ralph Sapson and Reggie Boltover, then travels to Pinham Heights and Tolbridge to examine the railway. By scrutinizing a disused branch line, he discovers that the rust and green scum are artificially created, proving the train was diverted to a hidden location. He concludes that Kate and her gang executed the robbery with meticulous planning.
Chapter 14
XV: As Sir Ralph Said, “Business Is Business”
Sir Ralph Sapson confronts Lord Flanborough over financial responsibility for the lost gold, demanding he share the loss. Lord Flanborough initially refuses, but after a mysterious delivery of gold ingots to his home, he agrees to assume full responsibility for £200,000. Meanwhile, Commissioner T. B. Smith searches for the missing Michael Pretherston and Barr, and Moya Felton receives an unexpected delivery of chemicals that turn out to be the stolen gold.
Chapter 15
XVI: On the Unmorality of Professional Thieves
The Crime Street gang holds a shareholders' meeting in the abandoned Boltover's Cement Works. Kate argues passionately against the gang's plan to 'settle down' with their ill-gotten gains, defending her life of crime as an art and a truth. Gregori and the Colonel try to persuade her, but she remains defiant. The chapter ends with the captured and bound Michael Pretherston being brought before the gang.
Chapter 16
XVII: The Independent Strategy of Señor Gregori
Kate witnesses the gang's violent capture of Michael Pretherston, who is manacled and interrogated. Gregori and the Colonel propose a bribe for Michael to help them escape with the gold, but he refuses. The gang debates killing him, while Kate feigns compliance but secretly plans to act.
Chapter 17
XVIII: The Colonel Was a Gentleman at the Last
Kate diverts the gold-laden trucks to Lord Flanborough's, betraying the gang. Gregori proposes marriage, but she refuses. Michael refuses to join the gang despite threats. The Colonel defends Kate from Gregori and is shot dead. Gregori threatens to kill both Kate and Michael.
Chapter 18
XIX: Michael Developed a Fondness for the Criminal Classes
Michael, manacled and lying on the floor of the engine house, is tended by Kate, who confesses her love and reveals the gang's methods. Dr. Garon prepares to inject Michael with a fatal dope, but Detective-Sergeant Barr arrives, knocks out the doctor, and frees Michael. The gang escapes on the engine, which later crashes into a goods train and explodes, killing them. Michael resigns from Scotland Yard, claiming his work was sapping his moral qualities, and marries Kate.
Chapter 19
Endnotes
The endnotes reference the case Rex v. Tolmini, a failed mail robbery due to a criminal's haste.
