A woman is found strangled in a cheap hotel. Friday and Smith are puzzled by this because what the woman is wearing seems to belie this situation. Her coat and shoes and handbag are of expensive quality. A guy named Morgan volunteers information but the detectives doubt his reliability. Morgan claims to have known the murdered woman as Maude McLeod from her days in a circus. It does turn out that the woman was in the habit of changing her name and life story. Friday and Smith's investigation start to bear fruit when they trace the woman's recent history to a boarding house. There the landlady turns out to be a mine of information. She runs the boarding house for single women lodgers and keeps an eye on them for their protection. There's a good portrayal of the landlady by Helen Kleeb who later was the thin and bespectacled advertisement for Kelloggs Special K. Friday and Smith eventually trace the murderer and break them down quickly to send them away for life as in the true story.
Review of The Big Hands
