When Jessica Standish is found stabbed with an oriental dagger, her brother sees the murderer fleeing the scene, and identifies him as her ex-fiance, Arthur Caldon. Caldon's house burns down later that night, but the man himself disappears. Inspector Betteridge learns that the dagger had belonged to the missing man, who also has a twin brother, Drake Caldon, owner of nearby Caldon Manor. The policeman's suspicions encompass not only Arthur and Drake, but also the latter's new wife, Elva, and his estate manager, Barry Wood. And then Elva disappears... Another great crime novel by a master storyteller."