"The Man Who Fell Through the Earth" by Carolyn Wells is a mystery novel written in the early 20th century. The story introduces the main character, Tom Brice, a lawyer who inadvertently becomes embroiled in a perplexing case involving a shooting in an office suite belonging to Amos Gately, the president of the Puritan Trust Company. As Brice witnesses a struggle and a gunshot from across the hall, he finds himself drawn into a web of intrigue surrounding Gately's mysterious disappearance. At the start of the novel, Brice moves into his new law office and soon becomes a witness to a heated argument that culminates in a gunshot and a woman's scream. He discovers that Gately's office is empty when he tries to intervene, raising questions about the identities of the individuals involved in the struggle and their current whereabouts. As the inquiry unfolds, Brice and his astute assistant, Norah MacCormack, delve into the events leading up to this dramatic incident, ultimately uncovering the layers of secrecy surrounding Gately's life and the mysterious circumstances of his disappearance. (This is an automatically generated summary.)