Used paperback in Very Good condition. Four casks have just been hoisted out of a ship’s hold, when the rope sling breaks sending them crashing back onto the deck. Two of the casks start to leak wine, the third is undamaged, and the fourth slightly injured, but sawdust rather than wine is escaping from a crack at the end of one of the staves. This fourth cask is also of a difference size and appearance from the rest, more strongly made and stained a light oak color. Upon further investigation the sawdust discloses a sprinkling of gold coins and the fingers of a hand.
Before the cask can be opened it disappears. Inspector Burnley of Scotland Yard is soon on its track. When he finally locates it, the cask is opened to reveal the body of a young woman, horribly strangled. There is no clue as to who she is, and the only possible place of investigation turns out to be Paris where the cask was assembled. The investigation is a model of police procedure, and it keeps the reader enthralled throughout.
