The Adventure of the Mettlesome Bride

Miss Imogene Boylan, fiancee of the Hon. Robert Ffrench, was found murdered this morning in her suite at the Hotel.

The victim lay stabbed to death before a full-length dressing mirror, her engagement ring removed from her finger.

Among the suspects routinely questioned by Scotland Yard were Penelope Smith, a seamstress who was preparing Miss Boylan's bridal trousseau; newspaper reporter Matthew Brown, a powerful society columnist; Cecil Rhodes, the deceased's cousin -- and the Hon. Robert Ffrench.

Each was rumoured to have drawn Miss Boylan's wrath during the course of the week. Penelope Smith had infuriated the bride-to-be with dressmaking delays; columnist Matthew Brown, had published an odiously slanted "Cinderella" story concerning the impending marriage; Cecil Rhodes had pressed his cousin to use her influence with Ffrench to obtain a loan for Rhodes's failing Tobacconist shop, and Ffrench had become increasingly disturbed by his fiancee's petulant behaviour.