333 Results with the "Mystery" genre


    • Chapter XVIII — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter XVIII - The woman in the Alcove opens with a quiet tension stretched along an abandoned stretch of coastline, where shadows grow longer with the dusk. Mr. Grey and Sweetwater make their way down a forsaken highway toward the edge of the sea, where a curious manufactory rests in isolation. The old town they pass is ghostlike—emptied by progress and forgotten by time. The sea hums softly in the distance, its rhythmic pulse the only sign of life in a place otherwise surrendered to silence.…
    • Chapter XVII — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter XVII - The woman in the Alcove begins in the close, tense quarters of the district attorney’s office, where three men sit in quiet anticipation of news that could shift an entire investigation. Sweetwater, the sharp and agile detective, stands before the district attorney and the inspector with a fresh report, but not before the doors are locked, sealing the room in urgent secrecy. What he reveals changes the tone entirely—his recent infiltration into Mr. Grey’s life has opened a new front in…
    • Chapter XVI — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter XVI - The woman in the Alcove finds the narrator standing before the Fairbrother house with a gaze sharpened by recent revelations and a heart heavy with doubt. The building, tucked along Eighty-sixth Street, now looms in her mind as more than mere brick and window. Its presence, once ordinary, pulses with implication after a late-night tale spun by the inspector—a tale of shadowed movement, hidden exchanges, and a possible escape that may have passed through those very walls. The house doesn’t…
    • Chapter XV — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter XV - The woman in the Alcove begins with a tension that lingers just beneath the surface as the narrator engages the inspector in another probing exchange. Their conversation turns sharply toward the identities of two elusive men—Sears and Wellgood—and their possible involvement in Mrs. Fairbrother’s murder. The inspector offers a vivid description of Sears, hoping it might spark a clear memory in the narrator, but she remains unconvinced. Her recollection of Wellgood doesn’t align with…
    • Chapter XIV — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter XIV - The woman in the Alcove begins with a restrained but layered conversation between the narrator and Inspector Dalzell, who offers a glimpse into the slow progress of their case. Their focus centers on two elusive figures—Sears and the mysterious waiter known as Wellgood—each critical to unravelling the complex web connecting Mr. Grey and Mr. Durand to the Fairbrother murder. The inspector speaks carefully, not yet ready to share everything, but enough is said to suggest that the trail…
    • Chapter XIII — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter XIII - The woman in the Alcove opens with the narrator pacing through a long, sleepless night, haunted not by her nursing duties, but by the ever-complicating puzzle surrounding Mr. Durand. Although the patient in her care shows signs of recovery, her thoughts drift constantly to the man whose fate hangs on unraveling a hidden truth. She wrestles with the fear that the plan to clear his name may have collapsed before it could bear fruit. The silence of the hours deepens her anxiety, amplifying…
    • Chapter XII — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter XII - The woman in the Alcove opens with Alice Ayers stepping into a home cloaked in gentleness, but charged with tension beneath its surface. She arrives under the pretense of caregiving, accepted graciously by Mr. Grey and his fragile daughter, whose illness has dulled the atmosphere of the house to something hushed and solemn. Though suspicion drew her there, the warmth extended by her hosts complicates her purpose, stirring doubts she hadn’t expected. Her goal is clear—secure evidence that…
    • Chapter XI — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter XI - The woman in the Alcove opens during a time when progress in the investigation appears stalled, with Mr. Durand’s innocence still unproven and suspicions against Mr. Grey unconfirmed. The narrator recounts how, during those uneventful two weeks, a letter from Mr. Fairbrother adds unexpected depth to the case. From his recovery bed in New Mexico, he reveals that the original diamond had a distinct setting purchased in France, which could only have been duplicated in New York under his…
    • Chapter X — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter X - The woman in the Alcove explores a conversation that begins as a measured exchange and escalates into a turning point in the case. The narrator boldly presents a new theory, suggesting that Mr. Grey, far from being a passive guest during the fateful evening, orchestrated a deceptive scheme. She points to his history with diamonds, newly confirmed through her own discreet cable to England, as a compelling motive. A rare and valuable gem had disappeared, and the reappearance of a similar-looking…
    • Chapter IX — The woman in the Alcove Cover
      by LovelyMay Chapter IX - The woman in the Alcove follows the narrator as she pushes past social restraint to speak directly with Inspector Dalzell about a theory that challenges the accepted line of investigation. Her belief in Mr. Durand’s innocence fuels her courage, despite knowing that her position as a woman and an outsider might weaken the impact of her words. She recounts what she witnessed on the night of the murder, focusing not on the bloodstained evidence but on subtler cues that others have dismissed.…
    Note