In a misty November night in Chelsea, two friends encounter a lost handbag outside a locked church. Inside, they find a Chinese stoneware jar belonging to Miss Mabel Bonney. They return the bag to her home, where they discover she is upset due to a recent incident involving a robbery attempt. Mabel recounts that she was attacked while walking home from a museum, where she had exhibited some pottery and a mysterious Japanese casket. The casket, crafted by a Japanese metalworker named Uyenishi, is suspected to hold some secret value beyond its artistic merit. Mabel's lawyer, Mr. Brodribb, explains that Uyenishi had been involved in a previous robbery and murder case linked to a valuable pearl necklace that had gone missing after the murder of Mabel's father, Harold Bonney. Uyenishi was never apprehended, and the pearls were never found. Brodribb seeks the help of the protagonist, a forensic expert named Thorndyke, to investigate the casket. Thorndyke examines the casket and discovers that it is made of a common metal but has a unique bottom made of Shakudo, a valuable alloy. He suspects that the casket may contain a hidden message related to the missing pearls. Thorndyke conducts tests and finds that the casket's bottom reflects a faint inscription in Japanese characters. The words "pearls," "pump," "Jockey," "fields," and "London" suggest a location where the pearls might be hidden. Thorndyke deduces that Uyenishi likely concealed the pearls in a disused pump near Bedford Row. To confirm his theory, Thorndyke and Brodribb, along with Mabel, visit the pump. They discover a leather bag containing the missing pearls hidden inside. Just as they celebrate their find, three men, presumably connected to the earlier robbery attempts, approach them. Thorndyke, prepared for confrontation, draws a pistol, and police officers arrive just in time to apprehend the men. With the pearls recovered, Mabel expresses her gratitude to Thorndyke, who has successfully unraveled the mystery surrounding the casket and its connection to the stolen pearls. The case concludes with the casket now a harmless artifact, its secrets revealed and its threat neutralized.
By R. Austin Freeman · First published 1910 · Genre: Mystery, Detective Fiction, Thriller