A newspaper man discovers the body of an elderly man in a Middle Temple passage and becomes drawn into the ensuing murder inquiry. Police work, chance witnesses, and a trail of small clues—a scrap of paper, a cap, a leather box, a silver ticket and links to a hotel, a safe-deposit office and rare-stamp circles—gradually expose hidden identities, past deceptions and contradictory testimonies. As suspects are questioned and arrests follow, surprising connections are revealed about the victim’s past, and a closing telegram brings the investigation to its decisive resolution.