Ellery steps aside for his elderly father, retired Richard Queen, as a black-marketed baby, delivered C.O.D. to a millionaire, is smothered in his crib- and the only evidence, a finger-printed pillowslip, disappears. The murder of the go- between, and then the baby's young mother, only confirms Richard's ugly suspicions which he is able to prove without a filial assist. And his romance with a middle-aged nurse lends a naive if likable touch to what might seem unsavory.