The Avenger · Chapter
I: The Headhunter explained
Captain Mike Brixan, a Foreign Office Intelligence agent, is recalled from Berlin just as he was close to solving the mystery of the Slovak Treaty.
What happens
Captain Mike Brixan, a Foreign Office Intelligence agent, is recalled from Berlin just as he was close to solving the mystery of the Slovak Treaty. His chief, Major George Staines, assigns him to investigate the latest victim of a serial killer known as 'The Headhunter'—Francis Elmer, a clerk who had embezzled funds and disappeared. Elmer's head was found in a box near Esher, and Brixan is to interview Elmer's niece, Adele Leamington, who works for the Knebworth Film Corporation in Chichester. Brixan reluctantly accepts the task, noting a curious coincidence involving the word 'extra.'
Themes in this chapter
Crime and Justice
The chapter introduces the Headhunter, a serial killer targeting fugitives from justice, and the official investigation into the murders.
Obsession and Madness
The Headhunter is theorized to be a lunatic who feels compelled to mete out punishment, and the case involves a pattern of gruesome killings.
The Macabre and Grotesque
The discovery of Elmer's severed head in a box, and the repeated decapitations by the Headhunter, establish a macabre tone.
Characters to notice
- Mike Brixan
Introduced as a superstitious but capable intelligence agent, recalled from Berlin to investigate the Headhunter murders.
- Major George Staines
Brixan's chief at the Foreign Office, who briefs him on the Elmer case and the Headhunter.
- Francis Elmer
The latest victim of the Headhunter; a clerk who embezzled funds and whose severed head was discovered.
- Adele Leamington
Elmer's niece, who works as a super-chorus-extra for the Knebworth Film Corporation; Brixan is tasked with interviewing her.
- Jack Knebworth
Mentioned as an American film producer who runs the studio where Adele works.
Key passages
“Captain Mike Brixan had certain mild and innocent superstitions. He believed, for example, that if he saw a green crow in a field he would certainly see another green crow before the day was out.”
Brixan held harmless superstitions, such as the belief that seeing a green crow guaranteed another sighting that same day.
Establishes Brixan's character and his quirky, observant nature.
“His official life was spent in meeting queer continentals in obscure restaurants and, in divers roles, to learn of the undercurrents that were drifting the barques of diplomacy to unsuspected ports.”
His work involved covert meetings with eccentric Europeans in hidden restaurants, gathering intelligence on diplomatic undercurrents.
Highlights Brixan's role as a spy and his expertise in political intrigue.
“The general idea is that he is a lunatic who feels called upon to mete out punishment to defaulters. But the two exceptions disturb that theory pretty considerably.”
The prevailing theory is that the killer is a madman punishing wrongdoers, but two victims who were honest and well-liked cast doubt on this.
Introduces the central mystery and the complexity of the Headhunter's motives.