When Herbert Wrayson, a bachelor, arrives to his apartment one night, a young woman is rummaging through his desk. When he confronts her, she claims that she was at Morris Barnes' apartment, his neighbor who lives above him. She leaves his apartment silently and makes her way to Barnes' house while he is on the phone. A few hours later, she knocks on his door once more, this time appearing frightened and weak. The corridor is dark, so she requests Wrayson's help in getting her downstairs. Morris Barnes is seated in a hansom at the doorway as they leave.But they find Barnes has been choked to death. Wrayson quickly discovers that the young woman is the elder, estranged daughter of retired Colonel Fitzmaurice, a club acquaintance. He also finds that he has fallen in love with her. But the crucial query is: Has he fallen for a murderess? How can he learn the reality? In classic Oppenheim fashion, this "whodunit" spins a complex web, and the shocking conclusion can only be found at the very end.
Phillips Oppenheim was born on October 22, 1866, in Tohhenham, London, England, to Henrietta Susannah Temperley Budd and Edward John Oppenheim, a leather retailer. After leaving school at age 17, he helped his father in his leather business and used to write in his extra time. His first novel, Expiration (1886), and subsequent thrillers piqued the interest of a wealthy New York businessman who eventually bought out the leather business and made Oppenheim a high-paid director.He is more focused on dedicating most of his time to writing. The novels, volumes of short stories, and plays that followed, numbering more than 150, were about humans with modern heroes, fearless spies, and stylish noblemen. The Long Arm of Mannister (1910), The Moving Finger (1911), and The Great Impersonation (1920) are three of his most famous essays.
