Eager for new adventures, Bulldog Drummond is determined to solve the mystery surrounding the terrified young man who seeks refuge at Merridale Hall. The trail leads to a gruesome murder, for which an escaped convict is blamed, but Captain Drummond's suspicions are confirmed when he encounters once again the wicked Irma Peterson. Mistress of Drummond's former enemy Carlo Peterson, who is now dead, and foiled by Drummond in the past, Irma is determined to settle the score. She and her fellow conspirators have devised an ingenious plan to defraud a leading financier of his fortune. Plot and counter-plot are cunningly interwoven in this marvellous thriller in which Captain Drummond comes up against the most testing challenge of his career.