Angel Esquire Author:Edgar Wallace Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. ANGEL ESQUIRE. Nobody quite knows how Angel Esquire came to occupy the position he does at Scotland Yard. On his appointment, " An Officer of ... more »Twenty Years' Standing " wrote to the Police Review and characterised the whole thing as " a job." Probably it was. For Angel Esquire had been many things in his short but useful career, but never a policeman. He had been a big game shot, a special correspondent, a " scratch " magistrate, and his nearest approach to occupying a responsible position in any police force in the world was when he was appointed a J.P. of Rhodesia, and, serving on the Tuli Commission, he hanged M'Linchwe and six of that black desperado's companions. His circle of acquaintances extended to the suburbs of London, and the suburbanites, who love you to make their flesh creep, would sit in shiveringbut pleasurable horror whilst Angel Esquire elaborated the story of the execution. In Mayfair Angel Esquire was best known as a successful mediator. " Who is that old-looking young man with the wicked eye ? " asked the Dowager Duchess of Hoe- burn ; and her vis-a-vis at the Honourable Mrs. Carter-Walker's " sit-down tea "—it was in the days when Mayfair was aping suburbia—put up his altogether unnecessary eyeglass. " Oh, that's Angel Esquire ! " he said carelessly. ' What is he ? " asked the Duchess. " A policeman." ; " India ? " " Oh, no, Scotland Yard." " Good Heavens ! " said Her Grace in a shocked voice. " How very dreadful! What is he doing ? Watching the guests, or keeping a friendly eye on the Carter woman's spoons ? " The young man guffawed. " Don't despise old Angel, Duchess," he said. " He 's a man to know. Great fellow for putting things right. If you have a row with your governor,or get into the hands of—er—unde...« less