Editing Lord Peter Views the Body (section)

===The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers===
Members of [[London]]'s "Egotists' Club" are telling stories of mysterious, unsolved happenings. One of the members' guests, a cinema actor named Varden, tells how he was invited to model for a wealthy sculptor, Eric Loder, and spent several months at Loder's [[New York City|New York]] mansion.  After [[World War I|the war]], Loder invited Varden to return to New York for another sitting. Varden noticed that Loder's mistress, Maria Morano, had disappeared, though a life-size silver-plated sculpture of her now occupied the living room.  One night, Varden was wakened and told to flee for his life by a "funny-looking" [[monocle]]d man. This man then smashed the arm of the statue with a fireplace poker, showing Varden a human arm bone inside.  Varden fled the house immediately, but afterwards wondered if it was all a practical joke.

The "funny-looking man" – Wimsey, also a member of the club – appears and explains the mystery. Wimsey himself was a guest in Loder's mansion some weeks before Varden's arrival. A burst water bottle led him to abandon his bed for the living room sofa; there, he secretly witnessed Loder enter a hidden workshop behind a bookcase. After Loder left, Wimsey investigated and discovered an [[electroplating]] apparatus, as well as evidence that Loder had killed and electroplated Maria, and intended to do the same to Varden when he arrived. Loder had believed (incorrectly) that Varden and Maria were having an affair.

After frightening Varden away, Wimsey confronted Loder in the workshop. Loder tried to turn off the lights and attack Wimsey, but tripped and fell into the plating apparatus' [[cyanide]] tank, dying instantly. In trying to turn on the lights, Wimsey accidentally turned on the apparatus, causing Loder's hands to be electroplated in copper. Loder's death was ruled an accident, and Wimsey and [[Mervyn Bunter|Bunter]] gave the statue of Maria a [[Christian burial]] with the help of a sympathetic priest.