The Case of the Modern Pirate

The Case of the Modern Pirate is the second short story in the fifth anthology of Biggles Air Police short stories which is entitled Biggles' Chinese Puzzle. The anthology was first published in May, 1955 by Brockhampton. In the anthology, this story is preceded by Biggles' Chinese Puzzle (short story) and followed by The Adventure of the Luminous Clay.

Synopsis

Biggles and co. set off for the jungles of Papua New Guinea in search of a ship which had been "lost" by a modern day pirate. As usual, no pirate story is complete without a hoard of gold.

Plot

(Click on expand to read)

Air Commodore Raymond has an unusual assignment for Biggles: track down the modern day mariners turned pirates John Sebastian Blake and Nicholas Diaz. They had chartered the ship Cygnet under false pretenses and sailed from Britain for Lisbon where it took on cargo. Halfway to Cape Town, Blake had faked the shipwreck of the Cygnet and changed the ship's name to Pauline. The cargo was then sold at Cape Town. Another load of cargo was taken on and the ship headed for Brisbane. Enroute, the name was agai changed to Pauline. At Brisbane, the cargo was again sold and this time the ship took on a load of bar gold.

Despite its good fortune so far, the ship now ran into a typhoon and became wrecked somewhere on the northeastern coast of New Guinea. Two of the crew, Farrow and Macalister, who had never agreed to turn pirate with the others, decided to reach Port Moresby overland. Despite the difficult journey, Farrow had survived and related the story to the authorities. Now the insurance companies have offered a reward for the recovery of the gold while the police want Blake and Diaz arrested if they were still alive.

Biggles and co. set off for New Guinea and begin searching for the Cygnet in their Sea Otter. After five days with no result, they spot two men, prospectors who had met trouble with the local natives and had lost their supplies. They tell him they had seen the wreck of a metal ship in a mangrove swamp near a village of Kobe natives.

After flying the two prospectors to safety, Biggles and co. head for the location of the wreck. There they meet one Father Antoinne, a French missionary who worked in the area. He tells them that Blake and Diaz had survived the wreck and had been the cause of much trouble among the local natives. The two had at first stayed at the nearby village of the Kobe tribe but they had argued and Diaz had killed Blake. Then Diaz ran off to live among the neighbouring Gilkik village and had been leading that tribe in several attacks on the Kobe.

Biggles surmises that Diaz probably attacked the Kobe village because he wanted to get back to the wreck. Presumably their hoard of gold had been buried nearby. Leaving Algy to guard the plane, Biggles, Ginger and Bertie arm themselves with two rifles and a shotgun and head for the Kobe village with the intention of going after Diaz. On the war, they hear war drums and Father Antoinne predicts that another Gilkik attack would be starting soon.

As they approach the village, the battle has already begun. With Diaz armed with a rifle leading the Gilkiks, the Kobes are close to defeat but gunfire from the Air Police crew, especially from the shotgun, quickly turns the tide. The Gilkiks retreat. Diaz follows but is hit by a poisoned Kobe arrow. Knowing he is dying, he reveals the location of the buried gold.

Characters

The Special Air Police/Scotland Yard

• Air Commodore Raymond
• Biggles
• Algy Lacey
• Ginger Hebblethwaite
• Bertie Lissie

Others

• John Sebastian Blake
• Nicholas Diaz
• Farrow
• Macalister
• Father Antoinne
• Thompson (The Case of the Modern Pirate)

Aircraft

• Otter amphibian

Ships

• Cygnet - later Pauline then Corinthia

Places

Visited

• London - Air Police Ops Room. Raymond visits them there. Gatwick?
• New Guinea
  • Madang

Mentioned

• Devon
• Lisbon
• Cape Town
• London Hospital for Tropical Diseases
• Cooktown, Australia
• Port Moresby
• Lae
• Rabaul
• Sepik River

Research Notes

Chronology

• Raymond says: "Happy New Year to you all."