Harriet Vane had gone back to her Oxford college for the Gaudy Dinner, equipped with a suitable evening dress. She was welcomed back by her friends of college days and found that, with a very few exceptions, she was delighted with the reunions. Many of her acquaintances asked her about Lord Peter (Wimsey of Balliol, as he had been known in earlier days). "Do tell us about Lord Peter. He must be perfectly charming, if he's at all like his photographs:' "I worked with him over one case," answered Harriet. She didn't want to keep discussing him. Then, one day at lunch, she found a piece of folded paper in the sleeve of her college gown. There was a message on it made up of letters from the headlines of a newspaper: YOU DIRTY MURDERESS. AREN'T YOU ASHAMED TO SHOW YOUR FACE? Harriet had been on trial for murder and Lord Peter had come to her rescue, but that was past—she'd hoped. Apparently it wasn't, nor was it easy for her to forget about Lord Peter. He wouldn't let her. And she was glad that he wouldn't when she got a second message, on a postcard: ASK YOUR BOYFRIEND WITH THE TITLE IF HE LIKES ARSENIC IN HIS SOUP. WHAT DID YOU GIVE HIM TO GET YOU OFF? Peter burnt the postcard when she showed it to him, said to her, "Harriet, you have guts, haven't you? Give me your hand, and we'll fight on until we drop;' and stood by her throughout a campaign of terror, while the college seethed with suspicion, wrangling, and outright danger.