The Case Of Miss Elliott

"The Case Of Miss Elliott" was the famed Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright, Baroness Orczy's first collection of detective stories. It featured the first of her detective characters, The Old Man in the Corner, who solves mysteries without leaving his chair. Despite his vanity about his own talents, Bill Owen is a nondescript armchair detective who haunts a corner of the ABC Teashop on the corner of Norfolk Street and the Strand. His listener and protégé is the attractive young journalist Polly Burton. Polly brings him details of obscure crimes baffling the police, which he helps her to solve. The Old Man's cases include a wide range of sensational and complex detective puzzles: murder ("The Tremarn Case"), blackmail ("The Murder of Miss Pebmarsh"), perfect alibis ("The Case of Miss Elliott"), and thefts ("The Affair at the Novelty Theatre").