apart from the usual stereotype of the thirty and eugene pallette a the gruff police detective and jack la rue a the swarthy italian and of course and james lee a the chinese cook and this film be the great mystery of a murder in a locked room . for an early 1930 film and this step by step peeling of the veneer of the mystery be similar to the columbo series and except in this film and you do not have the advantage of know who the killer be in advance .