Basil Wilton is accused of murdering his own father but is he the real killer or is the-man-with-the-dark-beard someone else known to him who is on a murdering spree? How is Basil's to-be father-in-law related to the whole affair? Can Inspector Stoddart unravel the layers of the mystery and stop the killer in his tracks? Annie Haynes (1865–1929) was a renowned golden age mystery writer and a contemporary of Agatha Christie, another famous crime writer, which often led to her comparison with the latter, and unfavourably so. Haynes's fictions are now lauded for their quick-pace action and sustaining aura of suspense till the end.