The Classic Tales Podcast · B.J. Harrison

The 39 Steps, Part 4 of 4, by John Buchan VINTAGE

November 4, 2025·50 min·4 clips

Hannay spots the old man's telltale finger-tapping, instantly exposing the three cheerful Englishmen as ruthless spies.

B.J. Harrison narrates the concluding part of John Buchan's classic espionage novel for The Classic Tales Podcast, a long-running audiobook series focused on public domain literature. The chapter opens at a high-level intelligence meeting where the assembled officials — including Sir Walter, General Winstanley, a French attaché, and an Admiralty representative — discover that a man posing as Lord Aloa sat among them for half an hour and absorbed pages of classified naval and military information. The deception succeeded because those present took Lord Aloa's presence for granted and never scrutinized the imposter. The French attaché offers an analogy from his time in Senegal: he once failed to notice a lion had killed his mare and replaced it because he expected to see the mare and so saw only a tawny shape. Richard Hannay argues that the impersonator's genius lay in choosing Lord Aloa, a notoriously taciturn figure no one would have been likely to quiz. The spy's photographic memory — compared to that of historian Thomas Macaulay — means he carries all the detail he needs. The French official notes he also shared information about French military plans, raising the stakes considerably. The group debates whether the plans can be changed, with the Admiralty representative doubting the geography of England itself can be meaningfully altered in time. Hannay's pursuit of the spy in the subsequent chapters constitutes the climax of the novel, resolving questions about the thirty-nine steps referenced in the title. The audio is presented as a vintage episode from the Classic Tales catalogue, with the host noting the breadth of audiobook titles available via their subscription library.

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