Foreword: three thousand years of crime / Mike Ashley -- His master's servant / Philip Boast -- Death in the desert / Jean Davidson -- Judgment of the Gods / Rob Reginald -- Oracle of Armun / Mary Reed & Eric Mayer -- Cupid's arrow / Marilyn Todd -- Spiteful shadow / Peter Tremayne -- Catherine and the Sybil / Sharan Newman -- Jester and the mathematician / Alan R. Gordon -- Duke's tale / Cherith Baldry -- Sea of darkness / Sarah A. Hoyt -- Stone-worker's tale / Magaret Frazer -- Witching hour / Martin Edwards -- Dutchman and the wrongful heir / Maan Meyers -- If serpents envious / Clayton Emery -- Uninvited guest / Edward D. Hoch -- Benjamin's trap / Richard Moquist -- Serpent's back / Ian Rankin -- Botanist at bay / Edward Marston -- Living and the dead / Judith Cutler -- Footprints / Jeffrey Farnol -- Tenth commandment / Melville Davisson Post -- Murder in Old Manhattan / Frank Bonham -- Abolitionist / Lynda S. Robinson -- Poisoned with politeness / Gillian Linscott -- Threads of scarlet / Claire Griffen -- Gentleman on The Titanic / John Lutz