Three people are found unconscious at a table, under the influence of a non-lethal dose of a poisonous drug. The fourth is found here as well, but dead—stabbed with an umbrella. It isn’t clear how the poison was used: the victims swear that none of them had the opportunity to do it.
So begins yet another case for Sir Henry Merrivale, in which he will again compete with the senior inspector Humphrey Masters. And no matter how much the latter doesn’t want to wipe H.M.’s nose… the last word will still not be his…