We discuss The Black Hand Gang, and The Ghost by Edogawa Rampo, as part of the collection The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro, translated by William Varteresian. As Rampo continues to walk the line between Conan Doyle and Van Dine, our two new cases show an interesting point in his career, as we look at his least favourite story “The Ghost”, and why he saw it as a failure. Flex is also tasked to solve “The Black Hand Gang”, with a metagame puzzle from Herds to boot. We’re joined by Matt Sainsbury from Digitally Downloaded to talk about Rampo’s influence and why he’s underappreciated in the west.

Check out Part One and Part Three here!