# Blackmail and Crime in The Charing Cross Mystery

> Theme guide for The Charing Cross Mystery by J. S. Fletcher.

The plot involves systematic blackmail targeting Lady Riversreade and her sister, driven by criminal gangs exploiting past secrets, including a diamond necklace fraud and a potential fortune from an invention.

## Where it surfaces

- [XI: Lady Riversreade](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/chapters/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?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/chapters/xiv-is-it-blackmail): Dr. Baseverie's implied threat 'knowing what I know' and Major Penteney's armed confrontation strongly suggest blackmail.
- [XVI: Still More](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/chapters/xx-converging-tracks): Lord Morradale's theory of a jewel heist and kidnapping highlights the criminal underworld's methods.
- [The Order in Writing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/chapters/xxi-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/chapters/xxii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/chapters/xxiii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/chapters/xxiv-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/chapters/xxvii-the-assurance): The blackmail plot against Lady Riversreade and Madame Listorelle is discussed as a secondary motive for the murders.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/themes/blackmail_and_crime
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charing_cross_mystery_se/themes