Second collection of detective fiction concerning Martin Hewitt, a famous private detective whose methods closely resemble those of Sherlock Holmes. The anthology is composed of six short stories, mysteries investigated by the investigator Martin Hewitt, and narrated by his friend, Colonel Brett. An artist's work is vindictively vandalized, and the artist is found murdered in his smoking room. Gold bullion totaling L10,000 mysteriously vanishes from the ill-fated steamship Nicobar as it sinks en route to Plymouth. A clerk disappears from a large London bank along with a rather substantial amount of the company's money. A lunatic Frenchman, discovered beaten and bloody in the street, screams in terror when offered a loaf of bread. The detective Martin Hewitt is on the case.