The Three Strings by Natalie Sumner Lincoln

Name: The Three Strings
Author: Natalie Sumner Lincoln

The Three Strings opens on Evelyn Preston returning alone to her family's closed Washington townhouse in late September, ahead of the servants. Finding the house empty, she explores, naps, and forages for food in the kitchen. Hearing what seems to be the library bell, she goes upstairs and discovers an unknown dead man sitting in the library. She flees, meets the housekeeper Mrs. Ward arriving at the door, and together they find the family physician, Dr. Hayden, and then the actor Dan Maynard, an old family friend just back from France, arrives unexpectedly. Coroner Penfield determines the man died of poisoning (hydrocyanic acid, likely in cherry brandy) roughly twelve hours before Evelyn found him — yet the body had not been in the library when she'd passed through earlier that afternoon, deepening the mystery of who moved it and who rang the bell. The only clue on the body is a length of red-and-green string. Evelyn's stepfather, Peter Burnham, and mother's friend James Palmer are dining out when Evelyn and her friend Marian Van Ness join them; Burnham reacts oddly to news of the death and fails to identify the body at the morgue viewing. Mrs. Ward faints upon hearing details of the case and afterward feigns illness to avoid questioning by detectives, arousing suspicion — especially since Mrs. Burnham recalls Matilda Ward once claimed to have no relatives in America, contradicting her story about a sister's death. A subplot emerges around Evelyn's secret engagement to French aviator Captain René La Montagne, whose letters to her were mysteriously intercepted, and whom Burnham violently opposes. Marian Van Ness, a State Department employee, aids the lovers. Palmer, meanwhile, is revealed as a rival suitor favored by Burnham. Suspicion mounts around Jones, the butler, who is discovered to be an unnaturalized German (born Johannes/Adolph) and who had reported Burnham to the Secret Service for alleged pacifist, disloyal remarks. Tension escalates when someone fires a silenced shot at Burnham through a window at Palmer's apartment, grazing his cheek. Suspicion falls on La Montagne, who was found just outside in the corridor, claiming he'd merely been asking directions to Marian's apartment and had seen a taxi-driver flee the scene. Maynard investigates, discovering La Montagne owns an automatic pistol fitted with a Maxim silencer — evidence that could implicate him — though the Frenchman insists he saw the real culprit, a red-haired chauffeur named Sam, leave the apartment. Sam denies having been there, and La Montagne cannot positively identify him. Burnham grows increasingly erratic and eventually formally accuses La Montagne to Detective Mitchell of both murdering the unidentified man (mistaking him for Burnham) and later shooting at him, revealing he had arranged to meet La Montagne in the library the fatal night and had sent him his own latchkey — evidence Evelyn finds devastating. Evelyn collapses on hearing this. Meanwhile, Marian Van Ness, who works with coded State Department dispatches, is shown decoding messages at home; that same night, an unknown intruder breaks into her apartment solely to retrieve a blotting-paper impression of what she'd written. The narrative continues with Maynard and Detective Mitchell pursuing the unresolved threads of Jones's disappearance, the mysterious string, the taxi-driver Sam, and the case against La Montagne.

By Natalie Sumner Lincoln · First published 1918 · Genre: Mystery, Detective Fiction, Crime Fiction · 22 chapters · 78,632 words

First lines

EVELYN PRESTON ran lightly up the steps of her home and inserting her latch-key in the vestibule door, pushed it open just as the taxi-driver, following more slowly with many an upward glance at the blind-closed windows, reached her side.

"Put the suit case down," she directed. "I'll have the front door opened by the time you get the trunk here."

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Mystery — The narrative centers entirely on the discovery of an unidentified dead man and the investigation into his identity and circumstances of death, with multiple clues and revelations driving the plot forward.
Detective Fiction — Detective Mitchell actively investigates the case, gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses; Coroner Penfield conducts autopsy and examination; the story follows investigative procedures and deductive methods typical of the detective fiction genre.
Crime Fiction — A murder has been committed and is the central event around which all action revolves; the narrative explores the circumstances, evidence, and investigation of the criminal act.
Suspense/Thriller — The narrative builds tension progressively through discoveries such as the bell ringing before the body was supposedly placed, the mysterious entry into the house, missing pocket contents, and contradictory evidence about time of death.

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The Three Strings is listed on Textopian as a novel by Natalie Sumner Lincoln, dated 1918 CE.

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Work type: Novel
Author: Natalie Sumner Lincoln
Date: 1918 CE
Language: English
Genres: Mystery, Detective Fiction, Crime Fiction, Suspense/Thriller, Historical Fiction
Length: 78,632 words
Structure: 22 chapters, 1,843 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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The Three Strings by Natalie Sumner Lincoln

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