Mask of Dimitrios (The) (1944)

Dutch mystery writer Cornelius Leyden is vacationing in Istanbul when he makes the acquaintance of Turkish Police Colonel Haki, a fan of his books. Haki makes Leyden aware that he is currently investigating the murder of Greek master criminal Dimitrios Makrpouloss, bloated corpse has just washed ashore on a beach in the Bosphorous. Never having seen a murdered body. Leyden accepts Haki's invitation to view it before cremation. Initially repulsed, he becomes fascinated by Haki's tale of Dimitrios sordid career as he rose from petty crime, smuggling and murder to blackmail, espionage, and political assassination. Following Haki's leads, his investigations lead him to such varied cities as Athens, Sofia, Geneva, and Paris, where he interviews Dimitrios' former mistress, who doesn't rise until ten in the evening, and the urbane, aristocratic cat-fancier who hired Dimitrios to steal state secrets. During his travels Leyden becomes friendly with Mr. Peters, an idiosyncratic three hundred pound Englishman, who seems more obsessed with Makropoulos than Leyden. Peters, who was betrayed by Dimitrios years before, is eager to take revenge on his former partner, and he forms a alliance with the writer to track down and blackmail the enigmatic criminal, a very high-risk enterprise.