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A reclusive peer returns to his ancestral house, marries a celebrated stage performer, and tries to maintain aristocratic form while pursuing scientific interests. A sudden death in the household triggers a criminal investigation that entangles relatives, servants, and stage associates, as uncanny physical likenesses and contradictory evidence produce confusion over identity and motive. The narrative unfolds as a puzzle of duplications, misdirected accusations, hidden connections, and tampered witnesses, with episodes of discovery and revelation that gradually expose how appearances, inheritance, and social proprieties complicate the search for truth.
| “‘One or other of you three, if not all of you, will be accused of the murder’” | Frontispiece |
| FACING PAGE | |
| “The maid found the dead body of her mistress” | 22 |
| “Sir John was found still seated at his writing-table, but dead” | 46 |
| “Line for line, feature for feature, the face was that of Dolores Alvarez” | 90 |
| “‘Look there!’ he almost shouted, as he pointed to the miniature” | 188 |
| “‘I object to anyone tampering with the witness’” | 300 |