An atmosphere of mutual hatred pervades the Greene mansion. + 

Mrs. Greene is a nagging, complaining paralytic, making life miserable for the whole household. + 

There are five children⁠—two daughters, two sons, and one adopted daughter⁠—who have nothing in common, and live in a state of constant antagonism and bitterness toward one another. + 

Though Mrs. Mannheim, the cook, was acquainted with Tobias Greene years ago and was remembered in his will, she refuses to reveal any of the facts in her past. + 

The will of Tobias Greene stipulated that the family must live in the Greene mansion for twenty-five years on pain of disinheritance, with the one exception that, if Ada should marry, she could establish a residence elsewhere, as she was not of the Greene blood. By the will Mrs. Greene has the handling and disposition of the money. + 

Mrs. Greene’s will makes the five children equal beneficiaries. In event of death of any of them the survivors share alike; and if all should die the estate goes to their families, if any. + 

The sleeping-rooms of the Greenes are arranged thus: Julia’s and Rex’s face each other at the front of the house; Chester’s and Ada’s face each other in the centre of the house; and Sibella’s and Mrs. Greene’s face each other at the rear. No two rooms intercommunicate, with the exception of Ada’s and Mrs. Greene’s; and these two rooms also give on the same balcony. + 

The library of Tobias Greene, which Mrs. Greene believes she had kept locked for twelve years, contains a remarkably complete collection of books on criminology and allied subjects. + 

Tobias Greene’s past was somewhat mysterious, and there were many rumors concerning shady transactions carried on by him in foreign lands. + 