The hand of power

In Short

When young Betty Carew is hired to sit in a London store window, she believes she has merely taken a bizarre publicity job to survive. Instead, she is thrust into a sprawling web of conspiracy involving her unknown inheritance, a sinister doctor, a fraudulent secret society, and a plot that moves from the fog of Devon to an Arctic-bound ocean liner. Edgar Wallace’s tale endures for its brisk theatrical storytelling, colorful rogue’s gallery of London lowlifes and highborn villains, and the sheer momentum of a plot that refuses to stay in one place.

The Story

The story opens on Dartmoor, where Betty Carew travels through a driving gale toward Princetown under the thumb of a mysterious, uncommunicative old driver. In London, she takes a job working inside a shop window display to earn her living, only to find her face plastered across the newspapers. This unexpected publicity sets off a chain of discoveries regarding her true origin. She is not the daughter of a murderer as she had been raised to believe, but the missing child of a wealthy American named Leiff Stone, who had long believed his wife and baby died years before.

Watching these developments is Dr. Joshua Laffin, a soft-voiced and cold-blooded physician who holds a high position in a mysterious order known as the Proud Sons of Ragousa. The Ragousas present themselves to the public as a harmless fraternal lodge running a lottery, but its inner circles—particularly the secret Twenty-Third Degree—operate as a dangerous criminal machine under the thumb of ruthless "priors." Laffin conspires to keep Betty's true identity hidden so he can secure control over the Stone millions.

Intervening in this web is Bill Holbrook, a former American journalist turned publicity agent, alongside Inspector Bullott of Scotland Yard and an eccentric, cultured burglar named Toby Marsh. As Bullott and Marsh probe the lower degrees of the Ragousas, they uncover financial extortion, secret listening posts hidden in chimneys, and coerced lodge members. Laffin abducts Betty and attempts to force his own schemes forward, but his criminal overreach soon draws in Lord Clive Lowbridge, an impoverished nobleman whose own connections to Laffin are far from innocent.

When Leiff Stone discovers his daughter is alive, he prepares to take her home to America aboard the ocean liner Escorial. Laffin and his confederates board the ship under false names, determined to execute a final, desperate takeover. Mid-Atlantic, the conspirators hijack the vessel, plunging the passengers into terror as they steer the ship toward Arctic ice floes to evade pursuing warships. Bullott, wounded and hiding in the engine room, works alongside Holbrook—who disguises himself as a ship’s steward—to protect Betty and her father. After Laffin is killed by his own mutinous conspirators, the remaining villains are subdued. The Escorial reaches New York Harbor, where Betty is safely reunited with her father and looks toward a future with Holbrook.

How It Unfolds

The journey through Dartmoor Betty Carew travels through a vicious storm across the Devon moors, completely unaware of the conspiratorial network watching her movements. Meanwhile, covert operative Harvey Hale receives instructions to join the Proud Sons of Ragousa.

A window in Duke Street Betty accepts a job working inside a London store window, drawing heavy publicity that exposes her location. At the same time, publicity agent Bill Holbrook and Inspector Bullott begin investigating the strange underworld figures operating around Paddington.

The secret of the lodge Burglar Toby Marsh reveals the multi-tiered structure of the Proud Sons of Ragousa, a widespread society concealing a violent inner circle. Bullott leaves his bureau post on a roving commission to infiltrate the organization from within.

A stolen identity uncovered Through an overheard conversation in a boarding house, Marsh learns that Betty is not the child of a killer named Caren, but the lost heiress of the wealthy American Leiff Stone. Criminal elements immediately move to keep the truth concealed.

Extortion and wiretaps Dr. Laffin attempts to manipulate government financial secrets and bleed the Ragousa funds dry, while Marsh uses hidden listening devices and lockpicks to monitor the doctor's secret communications.

Crisis on the high seas Reunited with her true father, Betty boards the Atlantic liner Escorial, unaware that Laffin's syndicate has also boarded. The villains seize control of the ship, cutting wireless communications and steering into fog-bound ice fields.

The Arctic showdown Disguised as a steward, Holbrook works with a wounded Inspector Bullott to untie captives, smuggle weapons, and outmaneuver the hijackers before navy warships intercept the vessel and restore control.

The People

• Betty Carew (Betty Stone): An resourceful young woman who starts as a struggling actress taking display work in London. She wants to live free of the dark shadow of her supposed past, only to discover she is the target of a high-stakes inheritance conspiracy. By the end, she claims her true name and family.
• Bill Holbrook: A sharp-witted former American journalist turned publicity agent. Driven by his love for Betty and a appetite for investigation, he repeatedly risks his life, eventually disguising himself as a steward on a hijacked ship to protect her.
• Dr. Joshua Laffin: A soft-voiced, mincing physician who conceals absolute ruthlessness behind a polite facade. He seeks total control of the Ragousa funds and the Stone fortune, stopping at nothing—including abduction and murder—until his ruthless ambitions lead to his violent demise.
• Toby Marsh: An educated, genteel burglar who speaks in elevated diction and takes smug pride in knowing the secrets of every criminal order. Though a criminal, his intelligence gathering and alliance with the law prove instrumental in breaking the conspiracy.
• Inspector Bullott: A dedicated Scotland Yard detective who takes a roving commission to smash the Ragousa network, enduring physical injury and working in disguise in an engine room to capture the ringleaders.
• Lord Clive Lowbridge: An impoverished nobleman who struggles with financial ruin after inheriting little from his uncle, finding himself dragged into Laffin's dark circle.

In Its Own Voice

“With the Twenty-Third Degree of the Proud Sons of Ragousa,” he repeated with relish; “and more especially with the Golden Voice of the Absolute!”

Toby Marsh proudly explains the absurd yet dangerous hierarchy of the secret lodge to a bewildered Bill Holbrook on a London street.

“Fortunately, newspapers are not necessary to me, and publicity is my bête noir.”

Dr. Laffin smoothly expresses his distaste for press intrusion while hiding his masterminding of abductions and financial extortion.

“I’m not a bit frightened, only I am surprised at myself… Billy, I can’t be sorry he’s dead.”

Betty admits her relief to Holbrook aboard the hijacked liner after learning that her long-time tormentor, Dr. Laffin, has met his end.

What It's Really About

Underneath its flurry of disguises, secret passwords, and high-seas hijackings, the novel is an examination of how respectability can mask total criminality. Dr. Laffin’s polite medical demeanor hides a predator, while the absurd rituals of the Proud Sons of Ragousa show how easily ordinary people can be manipulated by fraud under the guise of fellowship. The story also explores the anxiety of lost identity; Betty's struggle is not merely escaping physical danger, but shedding a falsely imposed legacy of shame to claim her true heritage.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy classic Golden Age thrillers filled with secret societies, stolen heiresses, and daring maritime standoffs will find plenty to entertain them here. Edgar Wallace writes with a light, cinematic touch, delivering fast-moving action balanced by genuine comic relief—largely provided by the delightfully pretentious burglar Toby Marsh and the quick-thinking Bill Holbrook.

The book does reflect its era's pulp conventions, featuring melo-dramatic coincidences, period slang, and villainous criminal syndicates that operate on a grand scale. Modern readers should expect straightforward plot twists rather than deep psychological realism. However, the vivid atmosphere—moving rapidly from the bleak storms of Dartmoor to the claustrophobic corridors of a hijacked transatlantic steamship locked in Arctic ice—makes it an engaging slice of classic British mystery entertainment.