When a very odd but important millionaire was buried at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, it might have embarrassed Ellery Queen. After all, the millionaire had been the first client of Ellery Queen, Inc. And now the client had joined the mackerels he was deader than. The crew of his yacht was scattered, and there was no autopsy to suggest the ways and means of his death.
However, Ellery Queen, case-hardened and unembarrassed as ever, stepped into the case without batting an eye, bringing along his new partner, Beau Rummell, a tough egg with a yolk of gold. Together they sliced away as mysterious a tangle of events as even Ellery Queen had ever seen. For clues they had one fountain pen covered with tooth marks, and a few additional corpses. The climax delighted Queen. He liked his cases dramatic, especially with a beautiful girl or two thrown in.