Círculo del Crimen: El Hermoso Marco de Oro

"El Hermoso Marco de Oro" by Peter Chambers This detective story, from *Círculo del Crimen* No. 23, opens with private investigator Mark Preston arriving at the California estate Rivers Bend to meet millionaire Bernard L. Rivers. Preston encounters Rivers's son Lawrence, a drunk young man, and the elegant secretary Kathryn Nolan before meeting Rivers himself—a wealthy, anxious man who has thoroughly investigated Preston beforehand. Rivers, a former gold dealer, recounts personal tragedy: his first wife Carol died in an apartment fire while retrieving jewelry; years later he remarried actress Judith Harvey. The narrative suggests a valuable framed portrait in gold has become central to Rivers's concerns, though the full commission remains incomplete in this excerpt. The text establishes a noir atmosphere of wealth, family dysfunction, and undisclosed danger, with Preston observing the household's tensions and secrets.