Appleby's End was where Detective Inspector John Appleby got off the train from Scotland Yard. But that was not the only coincidence. Why did Ranulph Raven's mysterious descendants make such a point of inviting Appleby to spend the night at their house?

Inspector Appleby is called to St Anthony's College, where the President has been murdered in his Lodging. Scandal abounds when it becomes clear that the only people with any motive to murder him are the only people who had the opportunity.

A gruelling night of shrouded motives and confused identities develops when the last of the Dromios is found murdered, with both of his hands burnt off. Inspector Appleby wrenches the facts from a melodrama in which the final solution is written in fire.

Gilbert Averell avoids some of the rigours of taxation by living for part of each year in France. His look-alike friend, Georges, suggests that they swap passports for a short spell, and Gilbert seizes the opportunity. However, a number of incidents, suggest the offer was not made out of simple friendship.