The Strange Case of Mortimer Fenley

Louis Tracy (1863 - 1928)

At the country estate of Mortimer Fenley, artist John Trenholme works at an oil painting of Sylvia, the financier’s beautiful ward. She has just emerged from the lake where she swims every morning. A sharp rifle shot shatters the pastoral calm, and Fenley lies dead at the mansion entrance, four hundred yards away.

Enter Scotland Yard, in the form of Scotland Yard’s Winter and Furneaux, nicknamed “The Big ‘un and The Little ‘un.” Winter, Chief Superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department, is big, burly and genial – certain to soothe the anxious and calm the excited. He methodically gathers, sorts and sifts the available evidence and examines the known facts for patterns that might suggest theories of the crime. This knowledge is the basis of deductive method by which he uncovers, in Tracy’s words, “the only sound conclusion from ascertained facts.”

Meanwhile, the diminutive and high-strung Detective Inspector Charles Furneaux uses his uncanny instincts and startling intuitions to unravel the mystery inductively. He talks to people, provoking emotional reactions, triggering tempers, seeking out sensitive spots. In this way he builds psychological profiles of the main characters. He uses this knowledge to guess how, under various circumstances, they would probably behave. His intuition then suggests how, in the actual conditions of the murder, they really did behave.

In less than 36 hours Winter and Furneaux unravel the mystery, a mild crush blooms into a full-fledged romance, real-estate changes hands, an earlier crime is solved, and more. - Summary by Kirsten Wever

Genre(s): Crime & Mystery Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 01 - The Water Nymphs Kirsten Wever
00:31:15
Play 02 02 - "Who Hath Done This Thing?" Kirsten Wever
00:34:19
Play 03 03 - The Hounds Kirsten Wever
00:34:02
Play 04 04 - Breaking Cover Kirsten Wever
00:33:36
Play 05 05 - A Family Gathering Kirsten Wever
00:39:39
Play 06 06 - Wherein Furneaux Seeks Inspiration Kirsten Wever
00:38:03
Play 07 07 - Some Side Issues Kirsten Wever
00:40:17
Play 08 08 - Coincidences Kirsten Wever
00:37:16
Play 09 09 - Wherein an Artist Becomes a Man of Action Kirsten Wever
00:41:56
Play 10 10 - Furneaux States Some Facts Kirsten Wever
00:37:56
Play 11 11 - Some Preliminary Skirmishing Kirsten Wever
00:30:10
Play 12 12 - Wherein Scotland Yard is Wined and Dined Kirsten Wever
00:29:37
Play 13 13 - Close Quarters Kirsten Wever
00:35:49
Play 14 14 - The Spreading of the Net Kirsten Wever
00:35:28
Play 15 15 - Some Stage Effects Kirsten Wever
00:32:56
Play 16 16 - The Close of a Tragedy Kirsten Wever
00:31:28
Play 17 17 - The Settlement Kirsten Wever
00:25:37