In the celebrated author's first mystery novel, Inspector Bencolin must unravel a dumbfounding locked-room mystery and apprehend a sadistic killer.

In the smoke-wreathed gloom of a Parisian salon, Bencolin has summoned his allies to discuss a peculiar case. A would-be murderer imprisoned for attempting to kill his wife has escaped and is known to have visited a plastic surgeon. Bencolin predicts his return, and his worst suspicions are realized when the beheaded body of the wife's new suitor is discovered in a locked room just feet away…

Also includes the rare Dickson Carr story "The Shadow of the Goat".