Hymn quoting, piously platitudinous Josiah Clunk, needles Scotland Yard in the case of a home for orphan girls, murders, and British naval secret leakage. Clunk manoeuvers events to his own advantage, but Scotland Yard, with him on one side and the Secret Service on the other, becomes a torture chamber for longsuffering Inspectors Hell and Lomas. Usual elliptical style for a polished tale.