The Hidden Hand

This mystery novel tells the story of Major Warfield, a veteran officer, who is the lonely proprietor of the Hurricane Hall. He is described as arrogant, domineering and violent—equally loved and feared by his faithful old family servants at home—disliked and dreaded by his neighbors and acquaintances abroad, who, partly from his house and partly from his character, fixed upon him the appropriate nickname of Old Hurricane. He is said to be an old bachelor, yet rumor whispered that the elder brother of Ira Warfield had mysteriously disappeared, and not without some suspicion of foul play on the part of the only person in the world who had a strong interest in his "taking off." Reverend Mr. Parson Goodwin drops in to talk to him during a raging snowstorm. Ira Warfield recently has been appointed one of the justices of the peace for Alleghany. The Reverend demands he comes with him to see a woman who seeks his presence at her deathbed. When Ira refuses to go in the storm, the Reverend told him he has to receive her dying deposition which is linked to a crime. The dying woman turns out to be Granny Grewell (Nancy), the midwife that disappeared from Hurricane Hall some twelve or thirteen years ago. What is the mystery behind Granny Grewell's disappearance?