The Adventures of Ethel King, the Female Nick Carter Read online

  The Adventures of Ethel King,

  The Female Nick Carter

  by

  Jean Petithuguenin

  Translated and introduced by

  Nina Cooper

  Edited by

  Paul WESSELS

  With the generous contribution of

  Daniel AULIAC

  Francis SAINT-MARTIN

  A Black Coat Press Book

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Introduction 4

  Bibliography of Ethel King 9

  1. THE GREEN DIAMOND 13

  2. THE EVIL SPELL 42

  3. JACK THE RIPPER, THE WOMAN-KILLER 69

  4. THE SIGN OF THE DEVIL 96

  5. A MODERN SALOMÉ 121

  6. A CRIMINAL ASSOCIATION 146

  7. THE BLOODY WHITE ROSES 173

  8. A DAY AMONG THE FEMALE MONSTERS 197

  9. TRAGIC RIVALRY 223

  10. RUBY, THE BLACK MILLER 249

  FRENCH MYSTERIES COLLECTION 274

  Introduction

  There were only two women sleuths in French popular literature before the mid-20th century. The first, Miss Boston, La Seule Détective Femme du Monde Entier, was created by Antonin Reschal (1874-1935) and appeared in fascicules in 1908-1909.1 Jean Petithuguenin (1878-1939) wrote the second, Ethel King, le Nick Carter Féminin, shortly thereafter (1911-1914). The heroine of both works was named Ethel and both works purported to be presented from memoires or notes left by the female detective. Alwin Eichler, the major publisher of popular literature in France until 1913, was the editor for Petithuguenin, and published works originating in Paris (9-11-13, rue Briand, Paris XIV), in Dresden (Rosenstr, 107), and apparently in the United States (22 First Street, New York), as well as in Milan (Via Annuciata, 2). The Saturday publication date of some of the fascicules, in addition to the Wednesday publication date, may indicate the date the fascicules reached foreign ports, as the transatlantic crossing at the time was 3-5, days. Each cover had a multicolored, garish picture on the front of some scene in which Ethel appeared and a sentence taken from the text, such as: “I hope that you’ve kept a piece of cake for me; by the way, I’ve just killed your husband.” The installments published in Paris ceased at the beginning of WWI; they continued in Germany, not written by Petithuguenin, but by various authors.

  Until the last few years, much of Petithuguenin’s work was lost in time or attributed as anonymous, even though the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris has a large collection of his works on microfilm. A survey was made by the Bibliothèque Nationale in 2002 to fill in the gaps of those works already catalogued in their files.2 The survey is exhaustive and covers editors, titles, dates and other information. One set, which includes Stoerte-Becker (1910), is included within a group of anonymous authors by Eichler. All of these are now known to be by Petithuguenin. This survey lists, as of 1913, 100 fascicules of Ethel King, 32 of which were conserved in one volume with their covers. It also records publicity for Ethel King and other publications by Eichler on the back of the covers and indicates that the fascicules were published every Wednesday. However, there are full page advertisements at the end of some fascicules which say they were published every Saturday in Paris at 41 Rue Dauphine, New York at 22 First Street, and Milan at Via Annunciata, 2. Sections of the ad are separated by the name of Edith King in bold capital letters. The advertisements continue the detective’s mythical life, maintaining that she was a real person and still alive at the time of the fascicules’ publication:

  THE FEMALE NICK CARTER

  A GREAT FEMALE DETECTIVE!

  It seems impossible that a woman could be capable of consecrating herself to a profession tied to such terrible dangers and which requires self-control, audacity, extreme resolution joined to shrewdness, and cleverness. Nevertheless a woman detective lives and works today in the United States of America, a woman who has been well-known for years for her preeminent abilities in the career she has chosen, and who has brought about numerous successes, one more marvelous than the next.

  She is not an imaginary character; she actually exists and, since her very first case that she brilliantly conducted in Philadelphia, her native city, her fame has grown from day to day.

  The advertisements go on to say that copies may be picked up directly from all book and newspaper sellers, or received through the mail with an additional 13 centimes in stamps sent to A. Eichler at the Rue Dauphine address, and that foreign stamps will not be accepted.

  Each fascicule also contains several pages advertising other Eichler publications as varied as Les Recettes de ma Tante [My Aunt’s Recipes] and Nouvelle Médecine pour Tous [New Medicine for All].

  In the 1987 edition of Le Guide du Polar, Michel Lebrun lists Petithuguenin under Other Authors:

  “Jean Petithuguenin (?-1939). This professor at the Faculty of Sciences was the official translator of the Nick Carter series, the author of the second series of Stoerte-Becker, Le Roi de la Mer (50 issues, 1912-1913), and very probably the author of a curious series: Ethel King, la femme Nick Carter (100 bi-weekly issues, ed. Eichler, 1912-1914).

  “At the beginning of the 1930s he published some mystery novels (Le roi de l’abîme, Ned Pic, detective) with the occult collaboration of his nephew.

  “Daughter of a detective, Ethel King took up her father’s career in order to avenge his death as well as that of her fiancé, both brought down the same day by an assassin’s bullet.”

  Petithuguenin, a professor at the Faculté des Sciences at The University of Paris, was also a linguist. He translated English, German and Norwegian into French. He translated at least one novel (L’Eveil de la Glèbe, 1917) by Knut Hamsun, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature for 1920. He also translated at least one novel by the German writer, Robert Kraft, Atalanta, La Femme Enigmatique (1912-1913). In the early 1900s, he both wrote and translated popular literature such as Ethel King, and his translations of the American detective Nick Carter series belong to this early period. Eichler, his first early editor and the major publisher in France of translated popular literature, such as the Buffalo Bill series, in 1913. His principal editor in the 1920s and 1930s was Jules Tallandier. Ethel King was continued in German in Dresden by other authors.

  A list of selected works include: Le Roi de la Mer [The King of the Sea] (Livre Moderne, 1913); Houdini, le Maître du Mystère [Houdini, Master of Mystery] (Ferenczi, 1921); Le Roi de l’Abîme [The King of the Abyss] (3 vols., Baudinière, 1928-29); Une Mission Internationale sur la Lune [An International Mission To The Moon] (serial. 1926; rev. 1933); Faust (Tallandier, 1927); L’Amante Réincarnée [The Reincarnated Lover] (1931); Une me en Perdition [A Lost Soul] (Rouff, 1931); Le Secret des Incas [The Secret of the Incas] (1931); Le Grand Courant [The Great Current] (1931) and Le Visiteur Invisible [The Invisible Visitor] (Ferenczi, 1932).

  Petithuguenin also penned historical romances based on Napoleon and Josephine and a biography of Queen Victoria. He was also involved in translating and adapting film novelizations, working with companies such as Film Aubert, Société des Films Kanminsky, Productions Svenska-British, Edition Artistic-film, Fox-Film, Editions film Albert Lauzin, Argus Films, Sascha Film, etc. Such projects covered included Sa dette [Her debt] (Ferenczi, 1921), Le Fantôme du Ranch [The Phantom of the Ranch] (Ferenczi, 1922), A l’aube [At Dawn], based on Edith Cavell’s novel (Inter-Films, 1929) and La Danse rouge [The Red Dance] (Tallandier, 1929).

  Petithuguenin’s heroine, like Antonin Reschal’s and Pierre Yrondy’s, is an extraordinary woman, a woman before her time in the early 20th century. Although she practices a masculine profession, she, like Miss Ethel Boston and T
hérèse Arnaud, as each of their authors insists, is very feminine. She is well known and moves comfortably in high society, dresses elegantly, is seductive, charming, and intelligent. These characteristics hide her more masculine traits: incisiveness, daring, physical fitness, litheness, strength, and accuracy with a revolver.

  Endowed with these virtues, talents, and abilities, Miss Ethel King investigates and solves cases involving murders, kidnappings, forgeries, extortions and evil by many names. She brings the guilty to justice, earns a more than satisfactory living and leads a comfortable life in Garden Street, Philadelphia.

  Nina Cooper

  Bibliography of Ethel King

  ** : included in this volume.

  1 Le Diamant vert [The Greeen Diamond] **

  2 Le Maléfice [The Evil Spell] **

  3 Jack l’éventreur, Tueur de femmes [Jack the Ripper, The Woman-Killer] **

  4 Le Signe du Diable [The Sign of the Devil] **

  5 Une Salomé moderne [A Modern Salome] **

  6 Une Association de malfaiteurs [A Criminal Association] **

  7 Les Roses blanches ensanglantées [The Bloody White Roses] **

  8 Une Journée parmi les monstres femelles [A Day Amongst the Female Monsters] **

  9 Rivalité tragique [Tragic Rivalry] **

  10 Ruby, le Meunier nègre [Ruby, the Black Miller] **

  11 Un Ennemi de l’humanité [A Foe of Humanity]

  12 Les Cadavres de la Delaware River [The Corpses in Delaware River]

  13 Un Mystérieux Boarding-house [A Mysterious Boarding House]

  14 Mariage de bandits [A Bandits’ Wedding]

  15 Un Dangereux prétendant [A Dangerous Suitor]

  16 Livrée aux lions [Thrown to the Lions]

  17 La Vengeance d’un malfaiteur [A Villain’s Revenge]

  18 Un Cœur de tigre [Heart of a Tiger]

  19 Frères ennemis [Enemy Brothers]

  20 Chez le millionnaire Armfield [At Millionaire Armfield’s]

  21 Une Carrière hantée [The Haunted Quarry]

  22 Le Fantôme de Chesterland [The Ghost of Chesterland]

  23 Un Drame dans la maison de fous [A Drama at the Lunatics’ Asylum]

  24 L’Assassinat de la loge 5 [Murder in Loge 5]

  25 Un Drame dans le rapide [A Drama in the Express Train]

  26 Meurtrière de son mari [She Murdered Her Husband]

  27 Le Crime du comédien [The Comedian’s Crime]

  28 Enfermée comme folle [Locked up as a Madwoman]

  29 La Terreur du club [Terror at the Club]

  30 Les Moines de Saint-Pierre [The Monks of St.Peter’s]

  31 Un Banqueroutier [The Bankrupt Banker]

  32 La Croix de la mort [The Cross of Death]

  33 Une Chapelle hantée [The Haunted Chapel]

  34 Le Club des revolvers [The Gun Club]

  35 Jane Davies, la Faiseuse d’anges [Jane Davies, Angel-Maker]

  36 La Bible volée [The Stolen Bible]

  37 Des Maures infâmes [The Infamous Moors]

  38 La Valse mortelle [Deadly Waltz]

  39 Une Tragédie dans un cloître [A Tragedy at the Cloister]

  40 Famille de malfaiteurs [A Family of Villains]

  41 McLann, le Voleur de chevaux [McLann, The Horse Thief]

  42 Un Malade bizarre [A Bizarre Patient]

  43 Les Conséquences d’un faux serment [The Consequences of Perjury]

  44 Une Femme bestiale [A Bestial Woman]

  45 Le Lac solitaire [The Lonely Lake]

  46 Chez McStuffing [At McStuffing’s]

  47 Un Coup de réclame [A Publicity Campaign]

  48 Les Cigares empoisonnés [The Poisoned Cigars]

  49 La Femme aux bombes [The Bomb-Making Woman]

  50 L’Or fatal [Deadly Gold]

  51 Une Contagion de suicides [A Contagion of Suicides]

  52 Vengeance d’étudiant [The Student’s Revenge]

  53 Triomphé trop tôt [Triumphed Too Soon]

  54 Le Spectre d’Israel [Israel’s Ghost]

  55 Un Voleur de tableaux [The Paintings Thief]

  56 Nouvel An tragique [Tragic New Year]

  57 Un Calomniateur sans scrupules [A Merciless Slanderer]

  58 Un Magasin mis au pillage [The Looted Store]

  59 Vol d’héritage [Stolen Inheritance]

  60 Sur la voie [On the Road]

  61 Les Bandits de La Havane [The Bandits of Havana]

  62 Un Sinistre présent [A Sinister Gift]

  63 L’Enigme du phare [The Mystery of the Lighthouse]

  64 Un Drame à l’agence matrimoniale [A Drama at the Matrimonial Agency]

  65 Une Aventurière [A Female Adventuress]

  66 Sous le masque de la loyauté [Under the Mask of Loyalty]

  67 Miss Ribson, la Statue vivante [Miss Ribson, The living Statue]

  68 L’Assassin du jardin zoologique [The Murderer at the Zoo]

  69 Les Pirates de Westend [The Pirates of Westend]

  70 Le Mystère de la maison rouge [The Mystery of the Red House]

  71 La Terreur des policemen [The Terror of the Policemen]

  72 Le Navire hanté [The Haunted Ship]

  73 Un Bandit du grand monde [A High Society Bandit]

  74 Le Mort du lac Dunham [The Dead Man at Lake Dunham]

  75 Une Terrible amazone [A Deadly Amazon]

  76 La Double vie d’Henry Barteau [The Double Life of Henry Barteau]

  77 Un Ennemi juré des blancs [Sworn Enemy of the Whites]

  78 Une Tombe solitaire [The Lonely Grave]

  79 Le Masque vert [The Green Mask]

  80 La Vengeance du rival [The Rival’s Revenge]

  81 Au dernier moment [At The Last Moment]

  82 Navarro, le Lion des Andes [Navarro, The Lion of the Andes]

  83 Un Maître-escroc [A Master Crook]

  84 La Vengeance du Polonais [The Pole’s Revenge]

  85 Le Signe de la mort [The Sign of Death]

  86 La Diseuse de bonne aventure [The Fortune-Telling Woman]

  87 La Terreur au pensionnat [Terror at the Boarding House]

  88 Le Nihiliste à barbe noire [The Black-Bearded Anarchist]

  89 Vengeur de sa famille [Family Avenger]

  90 Le Crime de Hoggershall [The Crime of Hoggershall]

  91 Le Paradis des gueux [The Poor Men’s Paradise]

  92 La Porte mystérieuse [The Mysterious Door]

  93 Une Veuve terrible [The Deadly Widow]

  94 Un Terrible panorama [The Deadly Panorama]

  95 Chez les Chartreux [At the Chartreux’s]

  96 Le Lit noir [The Black Bed]

  97 Long-Ho, la Terreur chinoise [Long-Ho, The Chinese Terror]

  98 Le Rossignol de Madrid [The Madrilene Nightingale]

  99 N°46777

  100 L’Idole volée [The Stolen Idol]

  1. THE GREEN DIAMOND

  Introduction: A Visit to Ethel King

  During my penultimate trip to America, whilst having lunch with Nick Carter the famous detective of whom I have the honor to be a friend, I talked to him about Ethel King. I had learned of her name and of the great deeds associated with it through her fame, as have all those who, by profession, or by taste, are interested in the career of great detectives.

  “Why don’t you go see her?” he said to me. “I’ll give you a note of introduction to her. She would certainly be pleased to make her files available to you and to tell you a thousand interesting stories about herself and her adventures. Although she works in a masculine profession, and one which requires precisely the most masculine virtues, she’s a charming woman. You won’t regret having met her.”

  I caught, as they say, the ball on the bounce, and eagerly took advantage of this unexpected opportunity. So it was that two days later I rang the doorbell of a pleasant cottage, 77 Garden Street, the “street of gardens,” one of the nicest in Philadelphia.

  I waited a long minute and then rang a second time. I was beginning to lose patience when I noticed a y
oung man who was watching me from a half-opened window on the second floor.

  I don’t stand on ceremony very much, and as I don’t like to wait, I called out to the unknown person loudly.

  “Sir,” I said to him, “I’d like to see Miss Ethel King. I come with an introduction from Mr. Nick Carter of New York.”

  I didn’t get an answer, but the window closed and half a minute later I heard a shambling footstep in the hallway. The door opened and I found myself facing a middle-aged maid, tall and proportionately large, with big feet, strong hands, a mulish forehead and unwelcoming expression.

  She looked me up and down with an irritating insistence.

  “What do you want, sir?”

  “Give this letter to your mistress,” I answered, annoyed, “and ask her if I may see her.”

  She had me go into a small sitting room where I again waited some minutes. I know a lot of detectives in a lot of countries, and I’m not unaware that they are obliged to take great precautions to be on guard against the undertakings of criminals. But I am, I admit, rather sensitive and when I’m the one who’s the object of such formalities, I tolerate it badly.

  So, when I was finally introduced into the detectives’ office, I couldn’t help remarking in a partly acid tone:

  “I see that your door is well defended, Miss. No one can get in to see you without getting thoroughly checked out.”

  Ethel King smiled and my bad humor disappeared immediately.

  “In fact, sir, I’m forced to defend my door,” she answered. “That precaution is indispensable in my line of work. If I hadn’t observed it right up to the present day, I wouldn’t have the pleasure of greeting you; I would have been sleeping under six feet of earth a long time ago. But believe me, it’s as much a burden to me as it is to my visitors.”

  I was already conquered, because, believe me, Ethel King possesses extraordinary charm. But if you were to examine her photograph, you would find her forehead too high, her nose too long, and her lips too thin.