Chief Inspector William Read, now working for the police department in Victoria, Australia, once again enlists the help of his old friend, freelance sleuth Jeffery Blackburn, to help him solve the grisly murder of High Court Judge Sir Merton Tenison Sheldon, in Melbourne. Sheldon's murder involves a classic locked room puzzle. As if this weren't enough channlenge for Read and Blackburn, the murderer is a crafty and shifty figure who taunts the two detectives by committing even more grisly crimes.