At seventy Sir Vernon Brooklyn was still the outstanding figure in the theatrical world. It was, indeed, ten years since he had made his farewell appearance on the stage; and with a consistency rare a...

“All of us here,” began Sir Vernon, with a well-satisfied look round the table, “are such good friends that we can be absolutely frank one with another. I am an old man; and I expect that almost all o...

John Prinsep was a man who valued punctuality and cultivated regular habits, both in himself and in others. At 10:15 punctually each night a servant came to him to collect any late letters for the pos...

Joan Cowper usually knew her own mind. And, in her view, knowing your own mind meant knowing when to stop as well as when to go on. She had made her position clear at the dinner, and Sir Vernon could ...

Inspector Blaikie, when he had done all that he could on the scene of the double crime, went at once to report to his superiors and to hold a consultation at Scotland Yard. The officer to whom he was ...

When Inspector Blaikie got to his own room, he sat down with a sheet of paper in front of him, and on it made out, from his notes, a list of all the persons whom he knew to have been in the house the ...

Inspector Blaikie left Carter Woodman’s office with the feeling that a new and unexpected light had been thrown on the tragedy, and that he had at least found a quite sufficient motive for both crimes...

The inspector found Superintendent Wilson in his room. As he told his case, the superintendent kept his eyes closed, but every now and then he gave an approving nod. His subordinate had done well, and...

Inspector Blaikie made a hasty meal, and then set off for Walter Brooklyn’s club. He found Mr. Brooklyn there, and was soon alone with him in a private room. Before the inspector could even introduce ...

Inspector Blaikie, when he left the Byron Club, was quite convinced that Walter Brooklyn was the murderer. Not merely one of the murderers, but the murderer of both men. The evidence against Prinsep h...

Charis Lang had kept her composure during that trying interview with the inspector, and had forced herself to tell him everything she had to tell that could even indirectly bear upon the murders. She ...

It had been a struggle for Ellery to keep away. He had heard nothing of the tragedy until Wednesday evening, when he had been to dine with his guardian, Harry Lucas, at Hampstead. There had been, of c...

Inspector Blaikie had made arrangements to see Superintendent Wilson after lunch; and at half-past two they were closeted together in the superintendent’s office. The decision about the inquest could ...

Joan had fully intended to see her stepfather before the inquest and to warn him of his danger and get him to tell the truth to her at least. When Ellery came to visit her on the Thursday afternoon⁠—t...

It was by a fortunate accident that Ellery had been able so soon to establish his alibi. After drawing blank at the Chelsea Arts Club, he had had very little of an idea where he should try next. He wa...

Fred Thomas came away a good deal dissatisfied from his discussion with his client. Walter Brooklyn, he felt, had given him little enough to go upon. He persisted in affirming that he had not been in ...

To walk round Leicester Square in search of the mysterious Kitty gave Ellery an uncomfortable feeling. Kitty appeared to belong to a type of lovely lady which had not come much in his way, and his fir...

The more Fred Thomas thought over the case which he had to handle, the less he liked it. He was certainly not accustomed to be squeamish; and considerably more than his share of rather shady business ...

While the representatives of the defence⁠—official and unofficial⁠—were pursuing their separate lines of investigation, the police had not been altogether idle. Inspector Blaikie had not been long in ...

When the inspector had left him, Superintendent Wilson gave himself up for a time to his thoughts. Leaning back in his chair, with his long legs stretched out before him, and the tips of his fingers p...

While Fred Thomas was trying to make a shield for Walter Brooklyn’s guilt by throwing the suspicion upon others whom he himself believed to be innocent, Joan and Ellery were following up their attempt...

Ellery met the Spaniard in accordance with his appointment in Trafalgar Square that evening. As he approached, he saw the old man pacing up and down the pavement in front of the National Gallery, walk...

The business transacted at Thomas’s office that morning was protracted; but the result of it was never in doubt. Thomas had before long to admit that he had been suspecting an innocent man, and that m...

“Well, where do we stand now?” said Superintendent Wilson, as he turned back into the room after showing his visitors out. “Nowhere at all, sir, I should say,” was the inspector’s discontented reply. ...

Walter Brooklyn’s release was arranged more quickly than anyone had expected, and, while Ellery and Joan were still engaged in the conversation just reported, he came out of Brixton Jail a free man. A...

Walter Brooklyn dined alone in his rooms. As a rule, a single Club waiter would have been deputed to attend upon him; but this evening he noticed that no less than four found an excuse for coming to h...

Ellery woke up in the morning with the dim consciousness that he had a great idea. What had he been thinking out when he dropped off to sleep the night before? The murders, of course⁠—they were always...

When Inspector Blaikie reported to Superintendent Wilson the results of his conversation with Carter Woodman, he had formed no definite theory. He explained without comment the precise terms of the wi...

When Joan and Ellery determined upon their course of action, Ellery’s immediate part was to make a thorough investigation of Carter Woodman’s movements. Apparently he had a perfect alibi⁠—as good as E...

One of Joan’s duties, during these troublous days, was to deal with Sir Vernon’s private letters. The management of the Brooklyn Corporation had passed, for the time being, into the hands of a subordi...

As soon as Ellery had gone, Joan put on her things and walked across to the Cunningham Hotel, where she went straight upstairs to the rooms occupied by Carter Woodman and his wife. As she expected, th...

Before Joan and Ellery parted, they arranged what each should do next to clear up the remaining difficulties. Joan was to test her theory about the coach-yard, while Ellery was to investigate the circ...

Inspector Blaikie had received very definite instructions from the superintendent as to the course of investigation which he was to follow up. He was to find out all he could about Woodman’s financial...

While Superintendent Wilson, by his own methods, was thus working towards the solution of the mystery, Joan and Ellery were also pursuing their investigations along their separate line. There was but ...

Superintendent Wilson’s examination of his find took him some little time. The bag was of ordinary stout canvas, most unlikely to be capable of identification. The small-shot also was of a kind which ...

Hardly had Joan and Ellery passed from the outer office into Woodman’s private room when the inspector entered the room they had left, and asked if Mr. Woodman was in. Moorman, who had met the inspect...

Joan, Ellery, and the superintendent faced one another across Woodman’s body. Moorman, his nerves gone, crouched in a corner, muttering. The inspector bent down and made a quick inspection of the body...