Sylvia Thompson

Sylvia is the daughter of Steven Thompson the paper mill owner, the younger sister of Doris and a childhood friend of Pen. She first met the investigators in January 1925 while they were staying at the Bryant New York residence.

Sylvia has 'played at' a series of jobs, the latest being junior designer/vendeuse at the New York branch of Boue Soers Couture House.

She got together with David when the investigators returned for Pen and Steel's wedding, and threw in her job when David asked her to accompany him on a trip to the exotic east.

Sylvia hoped that the marriage proposal wouldn't be far behind, but much to her frustration, the investigators reached Shanghai without David going down on one knee. Sylvia threatened to leave on more than one occasion, but then, both she and David and disappeared on 12 August. They haven't been seen since and Ho Fong has claimed responsibility..

On 2 October Sylvia rejoined the investigators as a ghostly form sporting a fatal bullet wound to the head. She was visible only to Pen, whom she accused of having her murdered. She stayed with the party until December, when, on the Canning Stock Route, she seemed to tire of haunting Pen and disappeared. Whether this spectre is indeed Sylvia's ghost, or merely a product of Pen's deranged mind is yet to be established.