Reciprocal Privileges

by James Lincoln Warren

About the Author: James Lincoln Warren is a frequent contributor to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and the winner of the Wolfe Pack’s 2011 Black Orchid Novella Ward for a story written in the tradition of Rex Stout. His fiction runs the gamut from historical to contemporary, and from humor to hard-boiled. He is also a past President of Mystery Writers of America’s Southern California Chapter.

Excerpt

They had arrived. The chauffeur parked the limousine by the kerb, exited from behind the steering wheel, and opened the door for his passenger.

“Looks like a fine old mausoleum, the Palladium Club,” Seaton said to the chauffeur, climbing out and looking up at the imposing Neoclassical façade.

“Not a member then, sir?” the chauffeur asked.

“No, it’s my first visit,” Seaton replied. “I have reciprocal privileges through my club in Sydney, the Elysium Club. I asked our Secretary there to suggest a place in London where I could enjoy similar amenities, and he recommended the Palladium. So here I am.”

“Amenities—at the Palladium Club, sir?” the driver said, pulling Seaton’s luggage out of the boot. He looked amused. “They say the Palladium isn’t a club at all—it’s the only funeral parlour in Mayfair.”

“Here, I’ll take that one,” Seaton said, reaching for the smaller of the two cases.

The one that contained the take-down sniper rifle.

Story Comments