In the short story The House at Shiraz, Herr Schlagal is a young German pilot who flies an air service between Teheran and Baghdad. He flew Parker Pyne to Teheran and helped Parker Pyne through the immigration and customs formalities. Later, Parker Pyne invited him to dinner at his hotel. On hearing that Parker Pyne was headed for Shiraz, he told Pyne that his air service was just three years old and his first passengers were two British ladies who later settled in Shiraz. One was Lady Esther Carr, who he described as "mad". The other was her companion, Muriel King. Schlagal fell in love with Muriel but when he tried to visit her in Shiraz, he was told that she had died.
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