The Old Man in the Corner · Chapters

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Chapter companions for The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness Orczy.

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Chapter 1
Dedication
The author dedicates the book to their dear Uncle and Aunt, Count and Countess Wass of Czege, in remembrance of happy days spent in Transylvania in October 1908.
Chapter 2
The Old Man in the Corner
Polly Burton, a journalist, encounters an eccentric old man in a corner of a restaurant who claims to have solved famous unsolved mysteries through logic and observation. He recounts the details of several cases, including the Fenchurch Street murder and the Phillimore Terrace robbery, demonstrating his superior reasoning compared to the police.
Chapter 3
I: The Fenchurch Street Mystery
Polly Burton, a journalist for the Evening Observer, encounters the eccentric Old Man in the Corner at an Aërated Bread Company shop. He challenges her belief that the Fenchurch Street mystery is unsolvable, arguing that intelligence can unravel any crime. He then recounts the case: William Kershaw disappeared after meeting the Siberian millionaire Francis Smethurst, who Kershaw claimed was actually a murderer named Barker from thirty years prior. Kershaw's wife and friend Karl Müller reported his disappearance, and the Old Man reveals letters from Smethurst arranging a meeting at Fenchurch Street Station.
Chapter 4
II: A Millionaire in the Dock
The Old Man in the Corner recounts the case of Francis Smethurst, a millionaire arrested for the murder of William Kershaw. Despite strong circumstantial evidence, Smethurst proves he never wrote the incriminating letters and that Kershaw was seen alive after the supposed murder, leading to his discharge. The Old Man hints that the mystery is clear to him.
Chapter 5
III: His Deduction
The Old Man in the Corner explains his deduction that William Kershaw was not murdered but instead murdered Francis Smethurst and assumed his identity. He points to the letters, the visit to the Torriani Hotel, and the unidentifiable body as evidence of Kershaw's clever scheme.

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Dedication

The Old Man in the Corner

I: The Fenchurch Street Mystery

II: A Millionaire in the Dock

III: His Deduction