Other editions of book A Chain of Evidence

"A Chain of Evidence" is a locked room mystery set in an apartment building in New York City. Wealthy and nasty Robert Pembroke is found dead in his bed with a pin stuck in his neck, and the suspects are the only other people at home - his niece Janet and their housekeeper Charlotte. The door is chained, the windows latched and there is no sign of forced entry or exit. Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) was an American writer and poet. Among the most famous of her mystery novels were the Fleming Stone Detective Stories, and Pennington Wise series. She also wrote several Sherlock Holmes stories.

“Oh, Doctor Masterson,” she cried, “come in quickly, and see what the matter is with Uncle Robert! He looks so strange, and I’m afraid he’s…” She seemed suddenly to realize our presence, or perhaps she noticed the staring face of the elevator boy, for she left unfinished whatever she had been about to say, and, still clutching the doctor’s coat, urged him toward her own door. I did not presume to speak to Miss Pembroke, but I could not resist an impulse that made me say to the doctor: “If I can be of any assistance, pray call upon me.” There was no time for response, I was not even sure the doctor heard me…but I turned back with Laura into our own apartment. “Something has happened,” I said to her, “and I think I’ll wait a bit.” “Do,” said my sister. “It may be we can be of assistance to that poor girl. If her uncle has a serious attack of any kind she will certainly want help.” I looked at Laura with admiring affection, I saw at once she had realized Miss Pembroke was in serious trouble of some sort, and her true womanly heart went out to the girl, forgetting entirely her previous dislike and suspicion. Almost immediately our door-bell rang, and, feeling sure it was a summons in response to my offer, I opened the door myself. Sure enough, there stood the elderly doctor, looking very much perturbed. “You kindly offered your assistance, sir,” he said, “or I should not intrude. I want immediate help. Mr. Pembroke is dead, Miss Pembroke has fainted, and their servant is so nearly in hysterics she is of no use whatever.” We are pleased to present this easier-to-read, specially formatted Classic Mystery Story for your Reading Pleasure. Riley’s Bookshelf has partnered with Kick at Darkness. It is a non-profit organization working to raise awareness and helping survivors heal from sexual assault, domestic violence and other sexual crimes. With the purchase of each book you buy one handmade crocheted scarf will be donated to Kick at Darkness. For more information please visit www.KickatDarkness.com Be sure to look for more great stories at www.RileysBookshelf.com

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

A respectable young attorney in New York City, Otis Landon has barely settled into his new living quarters when an incident occurs in a neighboring apartment that he cannot, in good conscience, ignore. Robert Pembroke, a vicious, miserly man, has been murdered behind locked doors. The only people who had access to the victim were his servant and his niece. The latter, Miss Janet Pembroke, seems the suspect most likely to have eliminated her uncle with a hatpin, but her obvious distress and gentle demeanor convince Landon she is innocent. Besides, he may be falling in love with her...

I do hate changes, but when my sister Laura, who keeps house for me, determined to move further uptown, I really had no choice in the matter but to acquiesce. I am a bachelor of long standing, and it's my opinion that the way to manage women is simply to humor their whims, and since Laura's husband died I've been rather more indulgent to her than before. Any way, the chief thing to have in one's household is peace, and I found I secured that easily enough by letting Laura do just as she liked; and as in return she kept my home comfortable and pleasant for me, I considered that honors were even. Therefore, when she decided we would move, I made no serious objection. At least, not in advance. Had I known what apartment-hunting meant I should have refused to leave our Gramercy Park home. But "Uptown" and "West Side" represented to Laura the Mecca of her desires, and I unsuspectingly agreed to her plans. Then the campaign began.

Leopold Classic Library is delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive collection. As part of our on-going commitment to delivering value to the reader, we have also provided you with a link to a website, where you may download a digital version of this work for free. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. Whilst the books in this collection have not been hand curated, an aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature. As a result of this book being first published many decades ago, it may have occasional imperfections. These imperfections may include poor picture quality, blurred or missing text. While some of these imperfections may have appeared in the original work, others may have resulted from the scanning process that has been applied. However, our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. While some publishers have applied optical character recognition (OCR), this approach has its own drawbacks, which include formatting errors, misspelt words, or the presence of inappropriate characters. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with an experience that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic book, and that the occasional imperfection that it might contain will not detract from the experience.

Excerpt from A Chain of EvidenceEarly every morning Laura scanned the papers for new advertisements. Later every morning she visited agents, and then spent the rest of the day inspecting apartments.Then evenings were devoted to summing up the experiences of the day and preparing to start afresh on the morrow.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.