Elusive Isabel

Elusive Isabel is a novel by Jacques Futrelle. Set in Washington, D.C., it is a spy novel about an international conspiracy of the "Latin" countries against the English-speaking world with the aim to take over world control.

By : Jacques Futrelle (1875 - 1912)

01 - Miss Isabel Thorne 02 - Mr. Campbell and the Cable 03 - The Language of the Fan 04 - The Fleeing Woman 05 - A Visit to the Count 06 - Revelations 07 - The Signal 08 - Miss Thorne and Not Miss Thorne 09 - Fifty Thousand Dollars 10 - A Safe Opening 11 - The Lace Handkerchief 12 - The Vanishing Diplomatist 13 - A Conference in the Dark 14 - A Rescue and an Escape 15 - Master of the Situation 16 - Letter From Jail 17 - A call on the warden 18 - Notice to Leave 19 - By Wireless 20 - The Light in the Dome 21 - A Slip of Paper 22 - The Compact 23 - The Percussion Cap 24 - The Personal Equation 25 - We Two 26 - In Which They Both Win

The eponymous heroine, Isabel Thorne, is a young woman, half British, half Italian, who works for the Italian Secret Service. She has been commissioned to bring about the signing of a secret contract, in the capital of the enemy, by representatives of all countries involved, both European and American. Her brother, an inventor, has devised a secret weapon by which missiles can be fired from submarines (see also depth charge) which will, it is hoped, secure military domination over the rest of the world.

Members of the U.S. Secret Service, who have been alerted, are assigned to prevent the signing of this "Latin compact" and bring to justice those involved who have no diplomatic immunity. One young representative named Grimm, however, although absolutely loyal to his government, falls in love with the beautiful foreign agent, Thorne.

In the end Thorne, who reciprocates her admirer's love, becomes estranged from her employer, the Italian government, because she does not want Grimm, who has been captured by the conspirators and knows all their secrets, to be murdered. Stripped of all her power and possessions, she unites with him at the end of the novel, no longer elusive.