“In the spring of 1894, all of London was gripped by curiosity, and high society by grief, due to the murder of the high-born Ronald Eider under the most unusual and inexplicable circumstances. The public already knew all the details of the crime that the police investigation had established, but much remained hidden then, because the evidence was so irrefutable that it was considered unnecessary to make all the facts public. And only now, after almost ten years, have I been given permission to fill in the missing links and completely restore this amazing chain of events. The crime was interesting in itself, but for me this interest cannot be compared with its incredible consequences, to which I owe the greatest shock and greatest surprise in my entire adventurous life. Even now, after so many years, remembering him, I feel a shiver of excitement and again feel that surge of joy, amazement and distrust of my own eyes, which completely stunned me. May I be allowed to assure those who have shown some interest in a brief acquaintance with the thoughts and actions of a remarkable man, that they must not blame me if I could not impart my information to them, for I would have considered it my first duty to do so without hearing I have a direct prohibition from his own lips, which was lifted only on the third of last month...”