About This Book
The story opens in a shabby Bayswater boarding-house where a young boarder returns from an errand to find an elderly resident murdered and the rooms overturned. A police investigation and inquest ensue, and the narrative shifts between procedural inquiry, witness statements, and the private lives of the boarders. A missing oriental jewel and an inherited family legend surface as motives, drawing in confidences, rivalries, and a diplomatist's involvement. Interlaced backstories, revelations, and testimonies converge in a final explanation that resolves who sought the jewel and the reasons behind the crime.