The blue hand

Jim Steele, secretary to solicitor Septimus Salter, sees himself as an amateur detective and is fascinated with one of Salter’s cases. The case involves the Danton fortune of Jonathan and Lady Mary Danton, held in trust for their daughter Dorothy. Twenty years ago, the Dantons had gone to America, Lady Mary dropped out of sight, and daughter Dorothy may have been lost in a boating accident but no one is really sure. Under the Danton will, if Lady Mary and Dorothy do not show up after twenty years, the fortune reverts to Jonathan’s sister, Mrs. Jane Groat. The clock is running down on that, and Jane’s pompous son, sinister doctor Digby Groat, wants to be sure he gets his hands on the fortune.