John Rhode 
Case of the Forty Thieves 

The Case of the Forty Thieves, first published in 1953 (and also published under the title Death at the Inn), is part of the series of mysteries featuring private detective Dr. Priestley. Author John Rhode, a pen name of Cecil Street (1884-1964), was a prolific writer of mostly detective novels, publishing more than 140 books between 1924 and 1961. From the dustjacket: It was the veteran sleuth Dr. Priestley who first suspected that an outbreak of scattered robberies throughout a wide radius around London was the work of a single crime syndicate. Inspector Jimmy Waghorn of Scotland Yard investigated each case separately – the missing Persian rug, the stolen mail bag, the two-gallon drum of narcotic poison and other robberies. Here are half a dozen mysteries combined into one master plot, a story packed with action, suspense and some unusually shrewd police work by two of Scotland Yard’s top operators – the indefatigable Jimmy Waghorn and the veteran crime analyst Dr. Priestley.