Edgar Wallace

“ Sixty-three hand-written volumes represented the life work of John Flack. It was the one achievement upon which he prided himself.
On another occasion, when the Governor referred to his extraordinary literary labours, he said:
"I have put a huge fortune in the hands of any clever man—providing, of course," he mused, "that he is a man of resolution and the books fall into his hands at a very early date. ”

“ Rightly speaking, it is improper, not to say illegal, for those sadly privileged few who go in and out of Broadmoor Criminal Asylum, to have pointed out to them any particular character, however notorious he may have been or to what heights of public interest his infamy had carried him, before the testifying doctors and a merciful jury consigned him to this place without hope. ”

“ In these days of scientific discovery, what is a novelty to-day is a commonplace to-morrow."
The Governor had his doubts as to the existence of these deplorable volumes, but very soon after the conversation took place he had to revise his judgment. Scotland Yard, which seldom if ever chases chimerae, sent down one Chief-Inspector Simpson, who was a man entirely without imagination and had been promoted for it. His interview with Crazy John Flack was a brief one. ”