Listing of Harry Kane Illustrations of Headquarters

The following illustrations by Harry Kane show various scenes inside Headquarters. Page numbers refer to the hardback editions. (Click on the page number to see the illustrations)

• "Terror Castle," p. 55

• "Stuttering Parrot," p. 87

• "Whispering Mummy," p. 27, 131

• "Vanishing Treasure," Cover illustration, p.145

• "Screaming Clock," p 111

• "Talking Skull," p. 123

• "Crooked Cat," p. 47

Unfortunately, when the text and illustrations are pieced together, there are several conflicts that become apparent. First, the drawings of Headquarters prior to "Crooked Cat" show the office area of Headquarters as being somewhat cramped. This is understandable in a thirty-foot trailer where part of the space must go to a laboratory, darkroom, and washroom ("Whispering Mummy," p. 8). However, in "Crooked Cat," Headquarters is shown as being relatively wide open with only a small booth at one corner; this booth is presumably the laboratory that is illustrated in "Whispering Mummy" (p. 131), although in "Crooked Cat," the laboratory is drawn in a different corner than in "Whispering Mummy."

Of course, the size of the booth as illustrated in "Whispering Mummy" appears rather small to house a complete laboratory with the equipment described in the various books; the drawing of the laboratory in "Talking Skull" (p. 123) seems more the right size. What then do we make of the booth?

One possibility is that the booth is actually the entrance to the laboratory and not the laboratory itself. This makes a lot of sense if you look at the illustration in "Talking Skull" and notice that the laboratory is actually a combination laboratory/darkroom (i.e., the lab and darkroom are not separate rooms). Thus, a double curtain entry door, provided conveniently by the booth, would give good access to the darkroom. A curtain would be at the front of the booth with another curtain at the rear of the booth to enter the lab/darkroom. That way, someone could enter the darkroom while film is being developed without spoiling the pictures. The only problem with this explanation is Robert Arthur's assertion on p. 67 of "Talking Skull" that the lab is big enough for only one person at a time, suggesting that he envisioned the booth itself being the laboratory itself and not just the entrance.

Of course, none of the illustrations show the washroom mentioned in "Whispering Mummy"; so it is impossible to know where it should be placed.

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