A sleepy little village unexpectedly becomes the subject of gossip across all of England: after all, here has occurred an unheard-of crime! The local scholar sent his assistant to Malta to buy a unique Peruvian mummy in a green sarcophagus. But when the professor opened the box, instead of the cargo he found inside the body of his assistant… If the great detective—like Hercule Poirot—had happened to be nearby, he would have solved the riddle in no time. But there was no detective. The police admitted their powerlessness. The locals set out to find the truth: an eccentric professor with a barbarian servant, a brave officer, a quiet widow, a bold adventurous sailor, a not-very-wealthy artist—and a mysterious Peruvian who insists that the blood of Inca kings flows in his veins… Who will be honored to solve the crime that made Scotland Yard back down?