Thirteenth in the mystery series with Inspector Arnold and amateur detective Desmond Merrion.
> The little village of Tolsham was surprised one day by a most extraordinary looking stranger. Clearly a foreigner, he had a full black beard, wore the oddest of old clothes, and from his mouth protruded a huge cigar. ‘Must be one of them Bolsheviks’ remarked the villagers, and left it at that. But with the stranger’s disappearance came the discovery of a dismembered corpse in the milk-churn of a local dairy. Had the mysterious ‘foreigner’ anything to do with the crime? Inspector Arnold of the Yard and his friend Desmond Merrion think so at any rate. Soon they are up to their necks in the most baffling case of the century, a mystery that is remarkable for its intricacy and really clever detection.