EXTRACTS: The Modesty Blaise Companion Expanded Edition © 2018 The Book Palace (425 PAGES in Full edition)

T H E M O D E S T Y B L A I S E C O M P A N I O N STORY No. 13 DRAWN BY JIM HOLDAWAY START DATE OF STORY 15th January 1968 (Monday) END DATE OF STORY 25th May 1968 (Saturday) When Willie Garvin saves the life of a teenage girl high on L.S.D., he and Modesty decide to look into Cloud Nine, the club the girl frequented. They come across Miss Gertrude Porter, an elderly do-gooder known in all the clubs as Good Gertie. A club barman warns Willie that prying is “Bad Suki”, a term new to Willie. Leaving the club they see a man being beaten up by masked thugs and rescue him. He is an undercover drugs officer sent by their friend Inspector Brook to look the club over. Grateful for their help, Brook gives them the address of the girl Willie saved. They find that she, too, has been beaten up – for “Bad Suki”. Modesty decides to break up the drugs ring. They get nowhere until Modesty has the idea of using Good Gertie as their eyes and ears around the clubs. Gertie agrees and a few days later reports that she has overheard two men discussing a large drugs shipment due to arrive in a remote West Country bay the next night. Modesty and Willie go to the bay and watch. A yacht arrives, is cleared by Customs and leaves. Searching the seabed under its mooring they see three scuba divers towing a large container and follow them into a cave. A tunnel from the cave leads them to a cellar where they find Good Gertie with a shotgun being held to her head. They surrender and are handcuffed. Gertie reveals that she is “Bad Suki” and it is her drugs ring they are investigating. She intends to kill them but before doing so, cannot resist the temptation to boast of her achievements. Modesty and Willie are bolted into the now empty drugs container and sunk in the bay to die. Willie manages to free them, they get ashore and set off to deal with Bad Suki. Brook intercepts them. He has been following them. By chance a policeman called at Good Gertie’s house. His arrival panicked the gang and one of Brook’s men was shot. The gang stole his police car and are making for a nearby bay. To give herself freedom of action, Modesty knocks out Brook and leaving him by his car, she and Willie head off the gang. In the fight that follows the gang are killed. Good Gertie tries to shoot Modesty and she, too, is killed. The bodies are put onto the yacht which is then blown up, leaving no evidence. Brook does not believe Modesty’s story that he slipped and banged his head but is nevertheless pleased that there were no survivors from the yacht. I I 218