[Illustration] The Filigree Ball by Anna Katherine Green Contents BOOK I. THE FORBIDDEN ROOM I. “THE MOORE HOUSE?” II. I ENTER III. I REMAIN IV. SIGNED, VERONICA V. MASTER AND DOG VI. GOSSIP VII. SLY WORK VIII. SLYER WORK IX. JINNY X. FRANCIS JEFFREY BOOK II. THE LAW AND ITS VICTIM XI. DETAILS XII. THRUST AND PARRY XIII. CHIEFLY THRUST XIV. “LET US HAVE TALLMAN!” XV. WHITE BOW AND PINK XVI. AN EGOTIST OF THE FIRST WATER XVII. A FRESH START XVIII. IN THE GRASS BOOK III. THE HOUSE OF DOOM XIX. IN TAMPA XX. “THE COLONEL’S OWN” XXI. THE HEART OF THE PUZZLE XXII. A THREAD IN HAND XXIII. WORDS IN THE NIGHT XXIV. TANTALIZING TACTICS XXV. “WHO WILL TELL THE MAN!” XXVI. RUDGE XXVII. “YOU HAVE COME!” THE FILIGREE BALL BOOK I THE FORBIDDEN ROOM I. “THE MOORE HOUSE? ARE YOU SPEAKING OF THE MOORE HOUSE?” For a detective whose talents, had not been recognized at headquarters, I possessed an ambition which, fortunately for my standing with the lieutenant of the precinct, had not yet been expressed in words. Though I had small reason for expecting great things of myself, I had always cherished the hope that if a big case came my way I should be found able to do something with it something more, that is, than I had seen accomplished by the police of the District of Columbia since I had had the honor of being one of their number. Therefore, when I found myself plunged, almost without my own volition, into the Jeffrey-Moore affair, I believed that the opportunity had come whereby I might distinguish myself. It had complications, this Jeffrey-Moore affair; greater ones than the public ever knew, keen as the interest in it ran both in and out of Washington. This is why I propose to tell the story of this great tragedy from my own standpoint, even if in so doing I risk the charge of attempting to exploit my own connection with this celebrated case. In its course I encountered as many disappointments as triumphs, and brought out of the affair a heart as sore as it was satisfied; for I am a lover of women and— But I am keeping you from the story itself.