The first Camberwell and Chaney detective case, in which young Camberwell is in employ of an elderly and wealthy gentleman at Wrides Park. The tranquility of the life at Wrides is shattered when a stranger rough intrudes, demanding to the owner, Mr Nicholas.
Later, the stranger is found dead, and the evidence points towards the elderly, wealthy Mr Nicholas, who was, it seems, being blackmailed by the now dead man, and was killed with Mr Nicholas's own swordstick.
Camberwell teams with former Scotland Yard detective Chaney to investigate.