“The following report appeared in the Argus newspaper of Saturday, the 28th July, 18–

“Truth is said to be stranger than fiction, and certainly the extraordinary murder which took place in Melbourne on Thursday night, or rather Friday morning, goes a long way towards verifying this saying. A crime has been committed by an unknown assassin, within a short distance of the principal streets of this great city, and is surrounded by an impenetrable mystery. …

“On the twenty-seventh day of July, at the hour of twenty minutes to two o’clock in the morning, a hansom cab drove up to the police station in Grey Street, St. Kilda, and the driver made the startling statement that his cab contained the body of a man who he had reason to believe had been murdered…” (Excerpt from the first chapter.)

NOTE: The preface of this work mentions the culprit of the “whodunit” – which may spoil the project for some listeners. Be advised to skip the preface or listen to it at the end if you’d like to be surprised by the outcome of the story.