Detective Inspector Bonaparte-Bony to his friends -- on the job again, to run down the mystery of the death of a swagman, a mystery that seemed relatively unimportant in Merinxo, but which Bony knew was part of a larger pattern. Successive deaths -- and a kidnapping -- took place before the clues were traced to their source, and the pieces of puzzle put together. Again an original tale -- much more workmanlike this time in the writing.