The young men and women I met there were among the finest people I have ever met. They are real, but this book, which roams freely about their place of work, is a work of fiction.

I have taken the liberty of using real life to give The Murder Bag some grit – for example, the Black Museum really is at Room 101, New Scotland Yard, and the ‘From Hell’ letter by someone claiming to be Jack the Ripper is quoted accurately from contemporary photographs.

The letter itself is said to be lost, and its location in this book is a product of the author’s imagination.

Tony Parsons

September 2013

Copyright

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted inwriting by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Epub ISBN: 9781448185726

Version 1.0

Published by Century 2014

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Copyright © Tony Parsons 2014

Tony Parsons has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by

Century

Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,

London SW1V 2SA

The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781780892337