Murder Must Advertise II

Peter enjoys working at copy writing, which gives him a chance to use words, one of his favourite amusements has always been talking wittily. He has been talking to Pamela Dean, the sister of the man who died. In the past year, Victor Dean had been mixing with an upper-class pleasure-loving set. He and Pamela were not rich, they were simply an ordinary pair from the suburbs. So Victor was "sinning above his station in life". His mistress - a member of the Bright Young Things' set - was Dian De Momerie, a girl from an aristocratic family. Peter gets taken to some of their parties, where he goes in fancy dress, as a Harlequin. Dian takes a strange fancy to him. He realises that the crowd are taking cocaine, and he wonders if there is a connection between drug trading and Victor's death. The young man didn't like drug taking, but was mad about Dian and believed that he would marry her. Peter manages to stay under cover in the office, though Miss Meteyard, one of the female copy writers (said to be based on Dorothy herself) is suspicious of him. He finally solves the case, finding that there is someone at the office who is using the advertisements that go in the paper, to send messages to dealers throughout London. This will give them the information on what pub to go to, to pick up their dope. James Talboys, one of the copy writers, had for some time been doing this for the dope dealers. He was using the office as a signal depot. Victor Dean had found out and he was threatening to expose him to Mr Pym. So Talboys killed Dean by firing a pebble at him from a catapult, while the man was walking down the stairs. Peter feels very sorry for Talboys, who is not long married and has just had a baby. He tells Peter he would give himself up but he doesn't want his wife and child to be pointed at... Peter suggests that he "takes the gentleman's way out" by putting himself in the line of fire of the drug dealers, who will bump him off.. He is depressed by the ending of the case, though Parker has managed to catch a ring of drug dealers, and he has found out who the killer was. Talboys goes home, after talking to Peter, and is run over by a car, driven by one of the drugs gang. His friends at Pym's think it is just a motor accident. Peter talks to Miss Meteyard who had suspected Talboys of misbehaviour. But she had not done anything about it.