The Case of the Indian Curse

Turning up missing is better than turning up dead

Inspector Peter Wyatt is out of town. This is inconvenient, because something is terribly wrong with Andrew Tillet and Sara Wiggins’s friend, antiquities dealer Baron Beasley—and he refuses to see a doctor or speak to anyone except Wyatt. A large man with usually-rosy cheeks and a fondness for exotic delicacies, Beasley now looks like a shadow of himself and can’t be coaxed out of bed.
 
To Sara and Andrew, Beasley doesn’t look sick as much as deathly frightened—which is even more worrisome. What could possibly have driven the robust man into this state? Is it connected to a strange artifact he recently acquired that seems to have disappeared from his shop?
 
Only Beasley knows, and he’s not telling—in fact, he’s disappeared from his room. Andrew and Sara race to find him, throwing themselves into their most dangerous case yet.

Born in New York City, Robert Newman (1909–1988) was among the pioneers of early radio and was chief writer for the Inner Sanctum Mysteries and Murder at Midnight—forerunners of The Twilight Zone that remain cult favorites to this day. In 1944 Newman was put in charge of the radio campaign to reelect Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was also one of the founding members of the Radio Writers Guild, which became the Writers Guild of America.

In 1973 Newman began writing books for children, most notably the Andrew Tillet, Sara Wiggins & Inspector Wyatt mysteries. The series takes place in Victorian London and follows the adventures of two teenage amateur detectives who begin as Baker Street Irregulars. Newman has also written books of fantasy, among them Merlin’s Mistake and The Testing of Tertius. His books based on myths and folklore include Grettirthe Strong, and he has published two adult novels.

Newman was married to the writer Dorothy Crayder. Their daughter, Hila Feil, has also published novels for children and young adults. Newman lived his last days in Stonington, Connecticut.