The Box With Broken Seals
(A.L. Burt Co., 1919)
WWI. James Crawshay, a British secret service agent, is on the hunt for Jocelyn Thew, a world-renowned criminal (now spy) conspiring to send a packet of secret papers to the German government. Crawshay is decoyed on a false lead to Halifax, where a tin box with broken seals is discovered. This box purportedly contains the papers, but is actually a ruse planted by Thew to give him time to to slip away undetected. Later, a similar ruse occurs, and Crawshay is decoyed to Chicago-- just in time to miss the steamer City of Boston, on which Thew sails back to England. Does he have the documents with him? Crawshay thinks so. After racing across the country he takes a sea-plane from the New Jersey aviation base and flies out to catch the boat.
After getting aboard, he and Thew put their cards on the table. Each knows what the other is up to, and both are playing for high stakes. Thew has a woman friend on board, Katharine Berverley, who has agreed to do him a favor for some past service concerning her brother. She is to act as personal nurse to Phillips, an invalid who has undergone a dangerous operation and is now dying. He wants to return to England before he passes away, and so Miss Beverley sails on board the City Of Boston as his nurse. But she is barely permitted to see the patient, a fellow named Gant attending him most of the time. When Crawshay finds out about the arrangement, he suspects that Thew is using this 'favor' as a trick. Are the documents hidden in the sick man's bandages? The agent thinks so. Using his diplomatic powers, he takes over command of the ship, and dismantles the radio apparatus to prevent Thew from communicating with German U-boats prowling the Atlantic.
But he is unable to get the goods on Mr. Thew. When the steamer docks in Liverpool, Crawshay and his men only find another box with broken seals in Miss Beverly's possession. But this box-- to their consternation-- contains bogus documents. And Jocelyn Thew has slipped through Crawshay's fingers again! Now he follows Thew into London, where the real action begins. Beverly is in love with Thew, but that man has an intense hate driving his every purpose and blotting out all other sympathy and emotion. What is the cause for his hatred of England? And, more importantly, where are those documents? As the net closes down on Thew a consummate intrigue begins, and Crawshay realizes he will have to use more than conventional methods to grab Thew and prevent the secret intelligence from reaching the enemy.
This nice little novel falls into the genre of spy/ mystery. It is not exceptional, however it is certainly far from mediocre. Crawshay masquerades as an incurable sissy, but he is in reality a clever and iron-willed secret agent. Thew, on the other hand, is something more inscrutable. He is an odd character who has some secret hate impelling him onwards, yet it is not until late in the novel that his past history is brought to light. The plot mechanism seems a bit slipshod, but the tale is well-written and fast-moving. Oppenheim's familiarity with the methods of wartime espionage is above doubt. And perhaps he alone is able to lend credibility to what in other hands would become a spoof. There is an undercurrent of romantic interest here, but also a pronounced tone of action and intrigue-- those elements for which the author is best known. However, we ask ourselves, as the novel approaches its dénouement, what ever happened to the 'box with broken seals?' Ah! That box has very little to do with the story. Its titular importance is one of A.L. Burt's ingenious advertising ploys.
The novel was released in England as The Strange Case of Mr. Jocelyn Thew. It was published in the U.S. as The Box With Broken Seals. We are unaware at present of any American edition other than that issued by A.L. Burt. This edition is relatively easy to find, like most of Oppenheim's novels, and doesn't go for much money. Regular price of a used copy may run anywhere from $5-20. There is also a recent paperback copy offered by Kessinger, but as we have never had the good fortune to come across any of their product we cannot recommend it. I own a reprint of the A.L. Burt edition, which I purchased as part of a bulk lot of Oppenheim's novels. There are no illustrations other than a frontispiece by F. Vaux Wilson. Total page length is 300 pages. All in all, we recommend this little story if you're looking for something to kill a few hours. If you enjoy international intrigue WWI style, step up, order a cocktail, and dip your paws into The Box with Broken Seals.
--B.A.S.
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