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. 22 DRAWN BY ROMERO START DATE OF STORY 12th July 1971 (Monday) END DATE OF STORY 27th November 1971 (Saturday) On Bondi beach with a friend, David Collins, Modesty is approached by Wu Smith, an international criminal known to her from Network days. He confides to her that he has some local business in hand and hopes that rumours of her retirement are true. She assures him that she has no interest in his business and grateful, he advises her not to buy nickel shares. At the same time, in the outback, Willie on a self-drive camel called Mabel. He is looking for a black opal to give to Modesty. Instead what he finds is a badly dehydrated girl, Judy, under a broken down jeep. He takes her to a nearby ghost town and revives her. She tells him she had been working for a man called Damion at a nearby nickel mine, and when she discovered that they were setting up a scam she was taken out into the desert and deliberately left to die. Later, when Modesty routinely calls up Willie on her radio, he tells her the story. Modesty and David Collins fly out to join Willie and Judy at the ghost town which they use as their base. A dust storm prevents them all leaving and Mabel wanders off. Willie goes to look for her. Meanwhile, checking the jeep and not finding Judy’s body, Damion’s men have followed her tracks, captured Modesty, Judy and David and taken them to the mine. Willie returns with Mabel and deduces what has happened. Making his way to the mine he meets Jacko, an aborigine on walkabout with his tribe. Jacko is a former Network employee. When Willie helps Modesty, Judy and David to escape, Jacko and his tribe hide them from Damion’s men. Returning to the ghost town they try to trick Damion into coming there alone, but fail and instead he arrives with all his men. With Jacko’s help they manage to put the gang out of action but Damion and his lieutenant, Korzon, take Modesty’s plane, planning to bomb them with hand grenades. Jacko and Willie put up a barrage of boomerangs and in trying to avoid them the plane stalls and crashes, killing Damion and Korzon. Jacko finds a radio in one of the jeeps and summons help. A week later Modesty tells Willie that Wu Smith has apologised for Damion’s bad behaviour. She complains to Willie that she has been cast off by David in favour of Judy and Willie tells her that Judy didn’t even cast him on. I I 228