The Case of the Missing Lady

Having proved their deductive talents to the famous explorer Gabriel Stavansson, Tommy and Tuppence are entrusted with a new investigation: discovering the whereabouts of his elusive fiancé.

Tommy Beresford adopts a Holmesian mode for solving this case, even to the point of picking up a violin in his office and screeching out “a few chords from Mosgovskensky.” Beresford’s technique is apparently pretty dreadful, for Tuppence, in the Watson role, cries out, “If you must be Sherlock Holmes… I’ll get you a nice little syringe and a bottle labelled Cocaine, but for God’s sake leave that violin alone.”

This story was published by Collins in the collection Partners in Crime, 1929. There was a stage performance of The Case of the Missing Lady in New York in 1950, although the details are unclear. It was apparently accompanied by a live broadcast. The story was adapted for radio in 1953, starring Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim. It also featured in the 1983 TV series Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime, with Francesca Annis and James Warwick.