Hugh Stanton, debonair, curly-headed, "the man with the monocle", arrives home from a holiday abroad, walks into London's show hotel, "The Parnassus", and finds himself involved in the strange circumstances surrounding the death of Savenac, a Balkan Dictator. Did the beautiful girl who was Savenac's companion and secretary drop a poisoned tablet in her master's wine? Or was it Marco, the head waiter, Lord Leslake, the Sporting Peer, or one of the others who had approached the table? Then there is the matter of five million pounds of Balkan gold hidden in this country, with Scotland Yard keeping a watchful eye on the efforts of a gang of hi-jackers to get it shipped abroad. A sparkling story, with Hugh Stanton and Detective-Inspector Curwen in another battle of wits.