New Book - Mrs Stein Solves a Crime - Victorian San Francisco Mysteries - by M. Louisa Locke (Pages 1 - 58)

 First Published: 2022

Mrs Stein receives the visit of Joanna Fiske, who wants to see Mr Stein. 

Yet, Herman in away on business. Joanna Fiske is the wife of Konrad, who works in the Pacific Coast Savings Bank, and it is thanks to Herman's recommendation that Konrad was promoted in the bank. Joanna is anguished because she fears that her husband may be blamed in the disappearance of some jewells.

Esther Stein thinks that when her husband returns, it will be too late for him to help Mrs Fiske. So she decides to take things onto her own hands. The next day she goes to see Konrad Fiske. At first, he is reluctant to tell her anything, but then he tells her everything. She says that Mrs Gertrude Varley kept jewels and money in the bank's vault, and she came every Monday to have a look at her jewels and sometimes she took some of them home. It was Konrad who took her to the vault and wrote the details in his ledger. THen Mrs Varley had a stroke and died some months later. The jewells which are missing are a pair of garnet earrings, which weren't particularly valuable but were special for her. The absence of these earrrings came to be noticed, when Mrs Varley's lawyer checked the box in the vault as part of the inventory. It was Konrad who realised they were missing. 

Esther asks if there were other people who also came into contact with the box if for example Konrad was sick or away, and he says that the chief cashier, Mr Southgate took over from him when Konrad was off work, accompanying his daughter to take some tests in hospital, and Mr Southgate must have chosen a teller to do the job. And when Esther asks if someone else may have shown interest in the jewells, Konrad sheepishly tells her that there was one person, Mr Meyer, who is actually Esther's son-in-law.

George Meyer is married to Hetty, Esther's youngest daughter, and lately Hetty has complained that he is trying to economise, getting rid of their carriage and insisting Hetty take the tram and things like that. It seems that George may have financial problems.