Blackmail and Crime

Where it surfaces

• XI: Lady Riversreade

  The link between Vivian's Night Club, the five-pound note, and the mysterious visitor suggests a blackmail plot.

• Is It Blackmail?

  Dr. Baseverie's implied threat 'knowing what I know' and Major Penteney's armed confrontation strongly suggest blackmail.

• XVI: Still More

  The central plot revolves around Baseverie's attempt to blackmail Lady Riversreade and Madame Listorelle over the Sellithwaite affair, demanding £30,000 for silence.

• XX: Converging Tracks

  Lord Morradale's theory of a jewel heist and kidnapping highlights the criminal underworld's methods.

• The Order in Writing

  Mapperley theorizes that Ambrose and Baseverie poisoned Hannaford and Granett to profit from secrets about Madame Listorelle and an invention, indicating a blackmail plot.

• The Highly-Respectable Solicitor

  The villains force Madame Listorelle to write an order under duress, using her notepaper to access her safe deposit box, exemplifying coercion and criminal conspiracy.

• The Landlady of Little Smith Street

  The forced letter from Madame Listorelle and the theft of the jewel box underscore the criminal plot.

• The House in the Yard

  The discovery of the azure-tinted notepaper and the dead man suggests ongoing criminal activities, likely involving blackmail.

• The Assurance

  The blackmail plot against Lady Riversreade and Madame Listorelle is discussed as a secondary motive for the murders.