An earnest young solicitor comes to Holmes just before he is arrested--for murder. He insists he had only just met the victim, and knows nothing of him, though he finds himself his sole beneficiary. But then Holmes finds a new thumb print, and the game is afoot.
A London lady comes to Holmes in curiosity about her newest lodger. After first renting the room, arranging for meals and newspaper to be left at the door, and paying a very high fee, he disappears completely. Or, is it someone else now inside the room?
Holmes is consulted on a matter of grave national consequence--but with surprisingly little cooperation from the government he seeks to protect. Where is the naval treaty? Why has it not appeared on the continental crime market?