pulps
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.