La madre de las serpientes (The Mother of Serpents)

About this issue

This Spanish-language pulp magazine issue contains "La madre de las serpientes" (The Mother of Serpents) by Clark Carrados. The story opens in London where gentleman Horatio Wolsey is mysteriously killed on a street by what appears to be a venomous snake bite—inexplicable in urban England. Detective Terence Dayne witnesses the death and later encounters an elegant, sophisticated woman named Dinorah carrying a distinctive snake-headed cane, accompanied by a striking young woman named Nydya. Dayne is subsequently hired by private investigator Mike Sharron to investigate socialite Linda Evans, suspected of infidelity, whose meetings allegedly occur at the consulting rooms of a mysterious fortune-teller named Madame Trellax. Dayne conducts surveillance and eventually books an appointment with Trellax, an approximately fifty-year-old woman in black velvet who appears ready to deliver her mystical consultation. The narrative blends mystery and occult elements within a detective framework.