With „Room 13" in 1924 Edgar Wallace introduced readers to Mr. J. G. Reeder, one of the least glamorous of all fictional detectives. Mr. J. G. Reeder is neither a police detective nor an amateur crime-fighter, nor is he a private detective. In fact he is employed by the Bank of England, and acts as a kind of consultant to Scotland Yard. This time Edgar Wallace's unassuming investigator shares the limelight with a young and vigorous ex-con called John Gray. John Gray, a moderately wealthy gentleman who was set up for having supposedly cheated riding in a horse race and sent to Dartmoor, comes out seeking vengeance on the man who sent him there – and finds himself aided in his quest by the seemingly innocuous J.G. Reeder.