The Case of Miss Elliot
Baroness Emma Orczy
 Despite his vanity about his own talents, Bill Owen is a nondescript armchair detective. A balding, watery-eyed, mild-mannered little man in violently checked tweed, he haunts a corner of the ABC Teashop on the corner of Norfolk Street and the Strand. His listener and protégé is the attractive young journalist Polly Burton. Polly brings him details of obscure crimes baffling the police, which he helps her to solve. She is fascinated by the unlikely unravelings she hears, but despite her sarcasm and pride in her own investigative talents she remains the learner, impressed in spite of herself. Although The Old Man does not hide his upper class attitudes, he sometimes feels sympathy for the criminals. The Old Man's cases include a wide range of sensational and complex detective puzzles: * murder ("The Tremarn Case"), * blackmail ("The Murder of Miss Pebmarsh"), * perfect alibis ("The Case of Miss Elliott"), * and thefts ("The Affair at the Novelty Theatre").