Edgar Wallace

“ Cæsar nodded. “He or she is Number Six,” he repeated gravely. “Whether it is a man or a woman, I have been unable to discover. -The person is described as Number Six in the records—there is some reason for the secrecy. Scotland Yard believes that I am a sinister individual, and it is remarkable that the agent they have chosen is not an ordinary member of the police force, but some enemy of mine—or rather, some person who regards himself or herself as my enemy, for—er—private reasons.
“There are, of course”—he shrugged his shoulders—“people who hate me. There is a man named Welland. ”

“ More beautiful than her greatly advertised ancestor Lucrezia—that poor, simpering, colorless thing, who had achieved a place in history to which neither her talents nor her spurious iniquities entitled her. ”

“ Smith did not ask what those unfortunate incidents were, nor did his employer volunteer any information. “I am one of those men,” Cæsar went on, “who like to know the worst quickly. It worries me when I cannot see my opponent's hand. And I spend a great deal of money in discovering just what kind of difficulties I am likely to meet with. I have had a man in the clerks' department at Scotland Yard for a considerable time ”