“But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff ’tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn.” Merchant of Venice “But if he thought the woman was being murdered⁠—” “My dear Charles,” sai...

“But if he thought the woman was being murdered⁠—” “My dear Charles,” said the young man with the monocle, “it doesn’t do for people, especially doctors, to go about ‘thinking’ things. They may get in...

The April night was clear and chilly, and a brisk wood fire burned in a welcoming manner on the hearth. The bookcases which lined the walls were filled with rich old calf bindings, mellow and glowing ...

“What do you really think of that story?” inquired Parker. He had dropped in to breakfast with Wimsey the next morning, before departing in the Notting Dale direction, in quest of an elusive anonymous...

Letter from Miss Alexandra Katherine Climpson to Lord Peter Wimsey. ℅ Mrs. Hamilton Budge, Fairview, Nelson Avenue, Leahampton, Hants. April 29th, 1927. My dear Lord Peter, You will be happy to hear, ...

“So you are thinking of coming to live in Leahampton,” said Miss Murgatroyd. “How very nice. I do hope you will be settling down in the parish. We are not too well off for weekday congregations⁠—there...

“You know, Wimsey, I think you’ve found a mare’s nest,” objected Mr. Parker. “I don’t believe there’s the slightest reason for supposing that there was anything odd about the Dawson woman’s death. You...

“Well,” said Wimsey, as Parker was ushered in that same evening by Bunter, “have you got anything fresh?” “Yes, I’ve got a new theory of the crime, which knocks yours into a cocked hat. I’ve got evide...

Letter from Miss Alexandra Katherine Climpson to Lord Peter Wimsey Fair View, Nelson Avenue, Leahampton. 12 May, 1927. My dear Lord Peter, I have not yet been able to get all the information you ask f...

“Hullo! hullo⁠—ullo! oh, operator, shall I call thee bird or but a wandering voice?⁠ ⁠… Not at all, I had no intention of being rude, my child, that was a quotation from the poetry of Mr. Wordsworth⁠ ...

“The gladsome light of jurisprudence.” Sir Edward Coke “Oh, Miss Evelyn, my dear, oh, poor dear!” The tall girl in black started, and looked round. “Why, Mrs. Gulliver⁠—how very, very kind of you to c...

“Oh, Miss Evelyn, my dear, oh, poor dear!” The tall girl in black started, and looked round. “Why, Mrs. Gulliver⁠—how very, very kind of you to come and meet me!” “And glad I am to have the chance, my...

Lord Peter took Mrs. Cropper down to Christchurch and returned to town to have a conference with Mr. Parker. The latter had just listened to his recital of Mrs. Cropper’s story, when the discreet open...

The rainy night was followed by a sun-streaked morning. Lord Peter, having wrapped himself affectionately round an abnormal quantity of bacon and eggs, strolled out to bask at the door of the Fox-and-...

That excellent prelate, Bishop Lambert of the Orinoco Mission, proved to be a practical and kind man. He did not personally know the Rev. Hallelujah Dawson, but thought he might belong to the Tabernac...

“Murbles is coming round to dinner tonight, Charles,” said Wimsey. “I wish you’d stop and have grub with us too. I want to put all this family history business before him.” “Where are you dining?” “Oh...

As Parker came out from the Chief Commissioner’s room, he was caught by an officer. “There’s been a lady on the phone to you,” he said. “I told her to ring up at 10:30. It’s about that now.” “What nam...

Miss Whittaker and the youngest Miss Findlater had returned from their expedition. Miss Climpson, most faithful of sleuths, and carrying Lord Peter’s letter of instructions in the pocket of her skirt ...

Letter from Mr. Probyn, retired Solicitor, of Villa Bianca, Fiesole to Mr. Murbles, Solicitor, of Staple Inn. Private and confidential Dear Sir, I was much interested in your letter relative to the de...

“I think,” said Mr. Trigg, “that it was on the 15th, or 16th June, 1925, that a lady called to ask almost exactly the same question that you have done⁠—only that she represented herself as inquiring o...

“There’s not a crime But takes its proper change out still in crime If once rung on the counter of this world.” E. B. Browning: Aurora Leigh “You will not, I imagine, deny,” observed Lord Peter, “that...

“You will not, I imagine, deny,” observed Lord Peter, “that very odd things seem to happen to the people who are in a position to give information about the last days of Agatha Dawson. Bertha Gotobed ...

Parker, too, had spent a disappointing half-hour. It appeared that Miss Whittaker not only disliked having her photograph taken, but had actually destroyed all the existing portraits she could lay han...

The doctor turned out to be a plumpish, fussy man⁠—and what Wimsey impatiently called a “Tutster.” He tutted over the mangled head of poor Vera Findlater as though it was an attack of measles after a ...

Thursday, June 23rd, was the Eve of St. John. The sober green workaday dress in which the church settles down to her daily duties after the bridal raptures of Pentecost, had been put away, and the alt...

Lord Peter missed both Miss Climpson’s communications. Absorbed in the police inquiry, he never thought to go back to Leahampton. Bunter had duly arrived with “Mrs. Merdle” on the Saturday evening. Im...