This etext was transcribed by Les Bowler.

WHAT THIS STORY IS ABOUT
The well-known authority on criminology, Dennis Holt, inherited a house in a remote village, the sort of place in which, to quote himself, “nothing ever happens.” One night at fifty-three minutes past eleven (he was always meticulously accurate about time), his attention was attracted by a peremptory tapping on the window pane. A moment later, the lower sash was slowly pushed up and a young girl appeared. “Let me in!” she whispered. “Please—I have hurt myself.” That was the beginning of a bewildering series of happenings in the life of Dennis Holt. Suddenly he found himself precipitated into the midst of a bewildering mystery, which at one time seemed to threaten even his own liberty. Patiently piecing together the ascertained facts, Holt eventually presented a remarkable reconstruction of what had taken place on that dramatic night.

THE
CLEVEDON
: : CASE : :

BY
NANCY & JOHN
OAKLEY

PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

Printed in Great Britain by Wyman & Sons Ltd., London, Reading and Fakenham.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. A Midnight Visitor [9]
II. The Tragedy at White Towers [23]
III. A Meeting in the Dark [34]
IV. The Silver-headed Hatpin [45]
V. Kitty Clevedon and Ronald Thoyne [59]
VI. A New Sensation [70]
VII. Evidence at the Inquest [80]
VIII. The story of a Quarrel [94]
IX. What Kitty Clevedon said [105]
X. An Invitation from Lady Clevedon [117]
XI. A visit from Ronald Thoyne [129]
XII. Ronald Thoyne disappears [145]
XIII. The Vicar’s story [154]
XIV. Kitty sends a Telegram [163]
XV. On Ronald Thoyne’s Yacht [172]
XVI. The Mystery of Billy Clevedon [185]
XVII. More about Billy Clevedon [193]
XVIII. The Anonymous Letters [205]
XIX. The Hairpin Clue [217]
XX. Still more about Billy Clevedon [227]
XXI. Why Tulmin blackmailed Clevedon [239]
XXII. More Anonymous letters [251]
XXIII. Tulmin’s queer story [263]
XXIV. The wrath of Ronald Thoyne [275]
XXV. The story of Mary Grainger [286]
XXVI. Nora Lepley’s explanation [297]
XXVII. Who killed Philip Clevedon [306]

CHAPTER I
A MIDNIGHT VISITOR

I became mixed up with the Clevedon case—the Cartordale Mystery, as it has been called—in curious fashion. True, it was to some extent in my line of business, though I do not actually earn my living by straightening out tangles. With me it is all a matter of “copy.”