
In a cramped studio apartment on a cold winter night, Carlton Dunlap slips inside, his eyes haunted and his breath tinged with whisky, though he seems otherwise composed. He finds his wife Constance asleep, yet she awakens with a mixture of accusation and fear, sensing that something is terribly wrong. Their tense exchange quickly reveals a marriage frayed by secrets and a looming financial disaster.
Carlton confesses that he has been siphoning money from his accounts, a desperate embezzlement that forces him to consider fleeing west under a new identity. Constance, torn between disbelief and a fierce protectiveness, watches his shameful confession unfold, her own hidden strengths hinted at in her sharp retorts. As the night deepens, the couple stands on the brink of a decision that could shatter their lives or force a painful reckoning. The atmosphere crackles with dread, promising a psychological battle that will test loyalty, guilt, and the possibility of redemption.
Language
en
Duration
~6 hours (377K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines.
Release date
2004-03-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1880–1936
A pioneer of the scientific detective story, this early mystery writer gave readers Professor Craig Kennedy, a sleuth whose cases mixed suspense with cutting-edge forensic ideas. His fast-moving fiction helped shape the bridge between classic detective tales and modern crime thrillers.
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