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 TARRANT, Sir Gerald (continued) STORY 54: “SWEET CAROLINE”: STRIP 5815 Staying with Modesty at her country cottage, he is with her and watching the local cricket match when the batsman, his former s c h o o l f e l l ow, L o r d Coburn, is blown up by an exploding cricket ball. An entity calling itself Sweet Caroline claims responsibility for this and several other bizarre murders. When his old friend Laura Crofton is threatened by them he brings her to see Modesty and Willie but she refuses their help. They decide to sort it out anyway and some time later he gets a phone call in the middle of the night from Modesty asking for a couple of his men to come and take the villains off her hands and clear up as usual. STORY 55 "THE RETURN OF THE MAMMOTH”: STRIP 5917 Returning to London with Modesty after spending the weekend with her at her cottage they decide to call in to see Willie at “The Treadmill”. They are told by Cynthia, who had been in bed with him, that he had a telephone call in the middle of the night and just dashed off to Helsinki to save one of his other girlfriends. He books a flight for Modesty and asks her to be careful. STORY 58: “THE WILD BOAR” STRIP 6231 Lunching with Willie at “The Treadmill” when Modesty calls from Tangier to tell Willie she fears that René Vaubois has been kidnapped which Willie passes on to him. His own enquiries with the Deuxième Bureau are met with evasions but when he next contacts Madame Vaubois she tells him that René really has disappeared and that even some of his best colleagues are acting as if they suspect that he may have defected. He tries to reassure her that René still has some very good and active friends. He is relieved to agree to Willie’s suggestion that he trust Modesty and let her and Willie deal with it, which they do. 164 TARRANT, Sir Gerald (continued) STORY 49: “THE MOON MAN”: STRIP 5332 When The Network disbanded Modesty allowed him to take over some of her Balkan contacts. Because he has been advised of a high level leak he now asks her to check the list for him. The leak is part of a plot by one of the Eastern Bloc espionage services to steal the list using the sleeper agent Alex Varna who is painting Modesty’s portrait. Varna has refused to be used but is forced to act when his young daughter, Julie, is kidnapped. Modesty and Willie foil the plot and when they rescue Julie he moves in with his department and clears up. STORY 50: “A FEW FLOWERS FOR THE COLONEL”: STRIP 5426 While he is watching Modesty and Willie giving a display of sky diving at a local hospital fête Weng arrives with the cable from Maria de Larra telling her that Fernando is badly wounded and needs her help. Modesty offers her apologises for leaving him in order to help an old friend and he Is very understanding as, after all, she recently did the same for him. STORY 53: “THE ALTERNATIVE MAN”: STRIP 5731 Sent to the Turks and Caicos Islands to liaise with Chuck Lattimer of the U. S. Drugs Enforcement Agency because the islands are being used as a staging post in the transport of drugs between South and North America. Asks Willie to go with him and when they get there he is able to consult Modesty who is already on the island on holiday. With Lattimer he goes to find the boat Lois Denton, his assistant, is holding off St. Cyprian for Willie. All they then have to do is go ashore and pick up the drugs and gang that have been captured by Modesty and Willie. He is present when Lady Delacroix denounces her husband, Sir Piers, as Charon, the drug boss, and shoots him. He clears up the mess. Drawn by Neville Colvin Strip 5386 10th March, 1982 Drawn by Neville Colvin Strip 5426 11th May, 1982 Drawn by Neville Colvin Strip 5759 12th September, 1983 Drawn by Neville Colvin Strip 5825 13th December, 1983 Drawn by Neville Colvin Strip 5919A Not published in the Evening Standard Drawn by Neville Colvin Strip 6231 25th July, 1985