However, before this can take place, Ruth is discovered dead in her bedroom at her parents' house, complete with sleeping pills, a farewell letter, and a new will, all of which are strong indicators that she committed suicide.

Following the inquest, which produces the anticipated result, Richard returns to his own house where he discovers a letter from Ruth that was written the evening of her passing but wasn't sent right away.

Although he does not want to worry his family further, especially his mother, Richard feels compelled to share the contents of the letter with an acquaintance, Inspector Macdonald of the Yard.

Ruth, a clever intellectual with much to say in her novels about the human condition but emotionally unsophisticated and even repressed in her private life, was somewhat of a paradox.

In addition to the family, three people whom Ruth had invited to a modest home party were involved in her literary profession in some manner, and these too are reluctant to give Macdonald information.