The problem of the mysterious disappearance of Sir James Lyttleton was peculiarly baffling for Chief Inspector Candlish of Scotland Yard. Lyttleton had sent a curt wire announcing his departure for America and then completely vanished. It was the chance discovery of a body floating in a stream in Sussex which provided the first clue, for there were several very singular facts about it, and soon after James Lyttleton's body was found in another man's coffin!