While out painting, Thomas Pedley witnesses the actions of two men and one woman, he thinks nothing of it until friend Mr Polton informs him of a murder that took place that same time. Several months later Pedley makes the acquaintance of modern painter Mrs Lotta Schiller.
Can Pedley help Dr. Thorndyke solve two murders.
An entertaining mystery ( )

This final book in the series isn't the peak of the series - several of what I suspect were supposed to be surprise twists I figured out fairly early on. However, I liked the way Mr. Polton played a large part in the first section, narrated by Thomas Pedley. The second section, narrated by Thorndyke's friend and assistant, Christopher Jervis, generally shows Dr. Thorndyke's investigation. It was this section that I found lacking - Thorndyke did most of his work behind closed doors and acted in a more secretive manner than I was used to, leading to a more deus ex machina finale. While Thorndyke never liked to explain his reasons for doing certain tests or examinations, in this book we don't even get to see what most of those tests were. ( )

Dr. Thorndyke uses his analytical skills to find the real villain in a case of confused personalities and cyanide poisonings. ( )