La Dama de los Cien Cuchillos

"The Woman of the Hundred Knives" by Clark Carrados This mystery-thriller begins when Derek Ardmore arrives in the small German town of Kettmaringen searching for a young woman named Irina (or Trina), who he suspects has been murdered. The townspeople behave suspiciously—the hotel clerk denies rooms despite vacant spaces, windows remain shuttered on a beautiful day, and residents watch him from their homes. At Castle Marienberg, administrator Karl Henningsen claims Irina is vacationing on the French Riviera, but Ardmore recognizes the lie. Henningsen and his associate Sandra Rottgen discuss killing Ardmore to protect their secret. Their dialogue reveals Irina died during interrogation—she refused to disclose the location of a valuable jeweled Virgin's crown, Nazi-looted property the count brought to the castle after the war. Ardmore camps nearby, determined to find her body as proof of murder. On his first morning, a police officer attempts to move him, but a young woman's voice interrupts, challenging the officer's authority.