Explore "The Chase of the Golden Plate" by Jacques Futrelle on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Stuyvesant Randolph, millionaire, owner of Seven Oaks and host of the masked ball, was able to tell the police only what happened, and not the manner of its happening. Briefly, this was that a thief, cunningly disguised as a Burglar with dark lantern and revolver in hand, had surreptitiously attended the masked ball by entering at the front door and presenting an invitation card. And when Mr. Randolph got this far in his story even _he_ couldn't keep his face straight.
The sum total of everyone's knowledge, therefore, was this: