This early work by Richard Austin Freeman was originally published in 1914 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introduction. The first story featuring his well-known protagonist Dr. Thorndyke - a medico-legal forensic investigator - was published in 1907, and although Freeman''s early works were seen as simple homages to his contemporary, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he quickly developed his own style: The ''inverted detective story'', in which the identity of the criminal is shown from the beginning, and the story then describes the detective''s attempt to solve the mystery.