A Difficult Problem

A scrap of paper on Lucy Holmes's dresser announces her husband's death before a telegram brings the news from Philadelphia. The notice names him correctly, yet its appearance in her New York apartment raises questions that the official account of heart disease leaves unresolved. Lucy asks an investigator to discover who placed it there and why. Her confidence in her maid adds another complication to the problem of how anyone reached the room.

Anna Katharine Green makes the investigation depend on details that can be handled and examined. The clipping's type and uneven alignment invite close scrutiny, and a wire puzzle among the husband's belongings draws the investigator's attention. His suspicions develop through conversations, inspection and an attempt to test a possible explanation. Readers who enjoy detective fiction built around small objects and conflicting evidence can follow the reasoning as an apparently straightforward death becomes increasingly difficult to explain.