Major Characters:
Gerald Ballwin, real estate developer
Anita Ballwin, his first wife (died prior to story)
Daphne Ballwin, his second wife
Carl Keetley, Anita’s brother, a gambler
Ethyl Worley, Gerald’s secretary
Carlotta Hanford, Daphne’s personal secretary
Wilmont Mariville, the Ballwin’s butler/chauffeur
Dr. George L. Quay, a dentist
Ruth Otis, Dr. Quay’s nurse
Bertha Cool, P.I.
Donald Lam, P.I.
Jim Fordney, Cool & Lam’s operative
Detective Frank Sellers
Locale: not specified
Synopsis: A woman claiming to be Beatrice Ballwin comes to the office of Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. She is worried a poisoning attempt will be made on her uncle, real estate developer Gerald Ballwin, and is looking for them to prevent it. Lam replies they cannot prevent a determined poisoner, but they take the case. Lam quickly determines she is not really who she says she is, but is Carlotta Hanford, personal secretary to Gerald’s wife, Daphne Ballwin.
Lam visits Ballwin’s sales office under the guise of purchasing a building lot, and is shown around by Carl Keetley, Ballwin’s brother-in-law (brother of Anita, Ballwin’s first wife). Keetley, a gambler, is not an employee, but hangs around the real estate office to borrow money from Ballwin.
Lam then wants to buy some time for Gerald by putting his wife (Lam’s suspect) in “psychological handcuffs”. He visits Daphne in the guise of an advertising agent for a brand of anchovy paste. He finds her to be a social climber who desperately wants social publicity, and amuses herself by tormenting her butler/chauffeur Wilmont Mariville. Lam charms her into agreeing to try samples of the paste with vague promises of a nationwide advertising campaign. Lam reasons this potential publicity will cause her to hold off on any murder attempts.
Lam suspects Daphne as the potential poisoner, and puts operative Jim Fordney on her tail. He finds that she pays frequent visits to her dentist, Dr. George L. Quay, and intimidates his nurse, Ruth Otis. Lam pumps Otis for details, and finds Daphne is deep in an affair with Dr. Quay.
Daphne hosts a dinner party and has butler Mariville prepare the hors d’oeuvres - anchovy paste on crackers. She feeds one to Gerald, who immediately becomes poisoned from arsenic and hospitalized. Soon after, Daphne eats some of the crackers and is herself poisoned.
Review: As with most murder mysteries, I was expecting a murder right off, but no murder occurs until fully 2/3 of the way through so we are kept hanging (forgive choice of word) a long time - Gerald is poisoned - is he going to die? Daphne is poisoned - is she going to die?.
The interesting character is Carl Keetley. He is on the edge of everything that happens. At first he seems a lounge lizard-type bounder, always hitting up the relations for money. Later we find him in an office of his own, suspiciously near Dr. Quay’s office - whose lover/patient is wife #2 to Gerald, whose wife #1 was Carl’s sister. It takes a little concentration to keep the relationships straight. Keetley uses this office to develop a machine (described in great detail) which allows him to predict the winner of horse races. Once murder occurs, Sellers and Lam visit him, but they seem more interested in the machine than in solving the murder.
I always enjoy the sarcastic trash-talking between Lam, Cool, and Sellers. Lam gets into that so much more than Perry Mason.
Gardner explains the title in his author’s note in the preface: "There are many people who do not know that from time immemorial Society has decreed there shall be thirteen steps to the gallows. There may be, therefore, readers who miss the significance of the title of this story. In California, as in many other states, executions invariably take place on Friday."
To add to the creepiness of the thirteen steps mentioned, here is a photo of a mausoleum near me. As with many such mausoleums, count the steps - thirteen. Someone has added some halloween jack o'lanterns to make it a bit more festive.
Forest Glade Cemetery, Somersworth NH
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