Here we are, back in Wrightsville for the last time. At the end of this story, Ellery swears it will be his last visit to Wrightsville, since each visit somehow, cosmically connects with yet another murder in this small New England town. This time, it is a local jeweler who is poisoned, in front of gathered heirs and other guests. And once more, the killer is not brought before a court of law.
Ernst Bauenfel’ first wife passed away, and a month later he married his secretary, a series of events of which the wags of Wrightsville still whisper. The dying clue (of course there is one!) is a diamond. Everybody loved Bauenfel, especially the gathered, so who could have possibly poisoned the special bottle of liquor that had been last used shortly before the first Mrs. Bauenfel’s death?
I’ll let you figure it out from there, and leave you with the final sentence from Wrightsville:
“As for Ellery, while it is to be doubted that his absence will remain permanent, the fact is that he has not yet paid another visit to his favorite scene of the crime, Wrightsville.”
Reading Ellery Queen 