Gold Bag

Gold Bag opens in the study of wealthy industrialist J. Dexter Hadley, found dead under circumstances that defy easy explanation. In this closed circle of suspects, everyone harbors secrets. The household staff seem overly attentive, the beautiful niece appears more interested in the inheritance than her uncle's demise, and the private secretary maintains an unsettling composure. Only Fleming Stone, the brilliant detective with powers of deduction bordering on the uncanny, can untangle the web of lies and reveal which among them is a murderer. The case hinges on a contested will, a missing fortune in gold, and the precise reconstruction of a single, fatal evening. Wells constructs her puzzle with the precision Golden Age readers demanded, layering false leads and alibis until only the most attentive can guess the solution. For fans of Christie and Sayers, this offers the satisfaction of watching a master detective unfold a case where everyone had motive, everyone had opportunity, and one person holds the key to it all.