Holmes and Russell team up with a former Pinkerton agent Dashiell Hammett, several residents of Chinatown, and a cast of irregulars to solve the mystery that has plagued Mary for ten years.

Holmes concludes from this, and her recurring dreams of falling objects, a faceless man, and locked rooms, that she is repressing some unpleasant memory.

Russell denies this and tries to track down the psychiatrist who helped her recover from the trauma she suffered when she precipitated the car accident that killed her family.

They conclude that Russell was present during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, despite her denial of this fact, and it was this experience that produced the dream about falling objects.

Using fengshui, which Long's family was very interested in, they dig up the garden and find a box with a confession, written by Russell's father, and several valuable items in it.

The letter concludes with the statement that Mr. Russell is going to disclose this information in order to free his conscience, and adds that he warned the person responsible of his intentions.