SPOILERS!!!
Loveday Brooke is a young detective working for Ebenezer Dyer. They have a new client, Reverend Anthony Hawke. The man tells them about Miss Monroe, who is a guest at his home. He and Miss Monroe's father are friends, and Mr Monroe,, who lives in China, has decided to send his daughter to England to remove her from the attentions of Mr Danvers, a young man who has no money and Mr Monroe considers unsuitable. Miss Monroe had a diamond necklace with her, but when she went to retrieve it, the jewel was gone. And then they have received two letters, one with the drawing of a dagger, and the second with the drawing of two daggers. Mr Hawke wanted to report the crime to the police, but Miss Monroe was against it, and Mrs Hawke was of the same opinion. Now that Mrs Hawke is away, visiting a sister, Mr Hawke has made up his mind to hire the dtectives.
Loveday tells him that he will go to the house, pretending to be a decorator that he has hired. In the house he meets Miss Monroe and Jack, Mr Hawke's nephew. In the rooms she is surprised to see that Miss Monroe is very tidy and doesn't let the maid to clean. When Loveday asks, she is told that nobody saw the diamond necklace, and when she was on the ship from China, her servant was so sick that Miss Monroe decided to send the woman back home, and she hired some Irish girl.
Loveday leaves, and the next day Mr Hawke returns, saying that he has received a third letter with three daggers, and the strange thing is that Miss Monroe is gone. Loveday says that she sent the letter herself, and she knows that Miss Monroe is in a hotel. The thing is that the girl who has stayed with Mr Hawke is not Miss Monroe, but the woman she hired as a servant. Miss Monroe persuaded her to pass herself off as her, and Mary O'Grady agreed. When they confront the girl, she finally tells the truth, and she shows them a telegram in which Miss Monroe says that she has married Danvers. The thing is that before leaving, Miss Monroe sold the diamond necklace and with the proceeds he could buy the passage on a ship to England. The letters with the drawn daggers showed were messages to let Miss O'Grady know that Miss Monroe has reunited with Danvers in Plymouth, and the second one was to indicate that they were now in Cork.
This was a great story, which I enjoyed very much. And I love Loveday's character.
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