La mano leprosa

# Catalog Note

La Mano Leprosa (The Leprous Hand) by Curtis Garland, issue 539 of the Selección Terror pulp series published by Editorial Bruguera in 1983. This detective mystery opens in 1885 London during a harsh winter snowstorm. Private detective Derek Dalby interviews job candidates for a secretary position, surprised when Susan Blake, an accomplished young woman, applies. She impresses him with acute psychological observations about other applicants—deducing one's naval background from knot-tying, another's Scottish alcoholism from physical traits, a third's colonial military service and tropical fever from appearance and mannerisms. Dalby hires her. Days later, he instructs Blake to accompany him urgently to Kingston in Humberside to investigate a case for an aristocratic client, Sir Tobias Curshing, involving an unspecified but "fascinating" and "strange" matter. The narrative breaks as Blake begins reading Curshing's letter detailing the assignment.