THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE

CONTENTS

I I TAKE A COUNTRY HOUSE
II A LINK CUFF-BUTTON
III MR. JOHN BAILEY APPEARS
IV WHERE IS HALSEY?
V GERTRUDE'S ENGAGEMENT
VI IN THE EAST CORRIDOR
VII A SPRAINED ANKLE
VIII THE OTHER HALF OF THE LINE
IX JUST LIKE A GIRL
X THE TRADERS BANK
XI HALSEY MAKES A CAPTURE
XII ONE MYSTERY FOR ANOTHER
XIII LOUISE
XIV AN EGG-NOG AND A TELEGRAM
XV LIDDY GIVES THE ALARM
XVI IN THE EARLY MORNING
XVII A HINT OF SCANDAL
XVIII A HOLE IN THE WALL
XIX CONCERNING THOMAS
XX DOCTOR WALKER'S WARNING
XXI FOURTEEN ELM STREET
XXII A LADDER OUT OF PLACE
XXIII WHILE THE STABLES BURNED
XXIV FLINDERS
XXV A VISIT FROM LOUISE
XXVI HALSEY'S DISAPPEARANCE
XXVII WHO IS NINA CARRINGTON?
XXVIII A TRAMP AND THE TOOTHACHE
XXIX A SCRAP OF PAPER
XXX WHEN CHURCHYARDS YAWN
XXXI BETWEEN TWO FIREPLACES
XXXII ANNE WATSON'S STORY
XXXIII AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS
XXXIV THE ODDS AND ENDS




THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE



CHAPTER I

I TAKE A COUNTRY HOUSE

This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted
her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer
out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious
crimes that keep our newspapers and detective agencies happy and
prosperous. For twenty years I had been perfectly comfortable; for
twenty years I had had the window-boxes filled in the spring, the
carpets lifted, the awnings put up and the furniture covered with brown
linen; for as many summers I had said good-by to my friends, and, after
watching their perspiring hegira, had settled down to a delicious quiet
in town, where the mail comes three times a day, and the water supply
does not depend on a tank on the roof.

And then--the madness seized me. When I look back over the months I
spent at Sunnyside, I wonder that I survived at all. As it is, I show
the wear and tear of my harrowing experiences. I have turned very
gray--Liddy reminded me of it, only yesterday, by saying that a little
bluing in the rinse-water would make my hair silvery, instead of a
yellowish white. I hate to be reminded of unpleasant things and I
snapped her off.