Mark Ablett's country home, the sprawling Red House, is the perfect country retreat. Secluded, peaceful, and far from the bustling crowds of London, it makes a perfect weekend getaway for Mark and his friends. But when Mark's brother returns from Australia, he has an old grudge to settle . . . and money to extort. After he enters Mark's study, the parlor maid hears arguing. But when the brother is found shot to death inside . . . Mark Ablatt is suddenly missing Has he fled the country? The local police begin a bungling investigation, so Antony Gillingham, one of Mark's guests, takes it upon himself to find out who really committed the crime And Antony's powers of observation rival those of Sherlock Holmes....