The Case of Miss Elliot was Baroness Orczy

Baroness Orczy

Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy de Orczi was a British novelist, playwright and artist of Hungarian noble origin. She was most notable for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel...

's first collection of detective stories which appeared in 1905 and featured the first of her detective characters, The Old Man In the Corner, who solves mysteries without leaving his chair.

This is one of three books of short stories featuring Orczy's armchair detective

Armchair detective

Armchair detective is a term used for a fictional investigator who does not personally visit a crime scene or interview witnesses; instead, he or she either reads the story of the crime in a newspaper, or has it recounted to him by another person. As the armchair detective never sees any of the...

, and although the first published it is second chronologically. The stories follow those in The Old Man In the Corner

The Old Man in the Corner

Created by Baroness Orczy, author of the famous Scarlet Pimpernel series, The Old Man In the Corner was one of the earliest armchair detectives, popping up with so many others in the wake of the huge popularity of the Sherlock Holmes stories....

 and precede those in Unravelled Knots

Unravelled Knots

Unravelled Knots, by Baroness Orczy, author of the famous Scarlet Pimpernel series, contains thirteen short stories about the Old Man in the Corner, Orzy's armchair detective who solves crimes for his own entertainment...

.

The Old Man in the Corner stories first appeared in 1901 in The Royal Magazine

The Royal Magazine

The Royal Magazine was a monthly British literary magazine that was published between 1898 and 1939. Its founder and publisher was Sir Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet....

, with the author receiving the large sum of 60 pounds. The stories were immediately popular, and the public clamored for more. The stories in this collection were published in The Royal Magazine in 1904 and 1905. They include

• The Case of Miss Elliott
• The Hocussing of Cigarette
• The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace
• Who Stole the Black Diamonds?
• The Murder of Miss Pebmarsh
• The Lisson Grove Mystery
• The Tremarn Case
• The Fate of the Artemis
• The Disappearance of Count Collini
• The Ayrsham Mystery
• The Affair at the Novelty Theatre
• The Tragedy of Barnsdale Manor

Plot

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

Aerated Bread Company

The Aerated Bread Company Ltd was founded in the United Kingdom in 1862 by Dr. John Dauglish. Its aim was to mass produce healthy, additive-free breads using a new bread leavening technology invented by the company's founder...

 Teashop on the corner of Norfolk Street and the Strand

Strand, London

Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...

.

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").