Shadows By the Sea — J. Jefferson Farjeon

A shipwreck brings many interested people to a hamlet. What is on the wreck that is so important? As dead bodies show up and a cach of dynamite is discovered on the wreck, some romance blooms. Eventually the various people are sorted into insurance investigators, thieves, and lovers.

A gentleman discovers a swatch of fabric on the beach where a youth reports a dead body laid. Together with other guests of the Mermaid Hotel, they must help solve the mystery of the missing innkeeper.