- A fishing trip for Richard and Ellery Queen soon becomes a working vacation when they are asked to help investigate the murder of a small town magnate.
- Ellery and his father are on a fishing vacation 200 miles from New York City when they are informed of the murder of Eben Wright. He was a rich manufacturer of galoshes, killed by a blow to the head from a valuable Chinese Temple Dog made of solid gold and encrusted with gemstones. Although Inspector Queen would rather catch fish instead of a murderer, Ellery is intrigued enough to sort through the evidence and eventually unhands a dying clue which helps him to pin down Eben's killer.—H Pylypiw
- At Ellery's apartment, Richard waits impatiently as Ellery packs for their fishing trip. Ellery is finally ready and the two men leave. The next day, their car breaks down two miles from the town of Wrightsville, Ellery admits that he forgot to have their mechanic take a look at their car. Sheriff Oscar Eberhart drives by and doesn't stop when the Queens try to flag him down.
Eberhart arrives at the Wright manor along with his to deputies. They go to the door, and Tilda McDonald greets them. She tells Eberhart that Eben Wright doesn't like to be disturbed, even though Eberhart says that Eben sent for him. Tilda lets the trio in and Eberhart says that Eben only told him to come over with his two deputies. The sheriff pins a re-election badge on Tilda, who isn't thrilled about voting for Eberhart.
Tilda directs the trio to the study, where Eben is going over a telegram. He tells Eberhart that his daughter Julia is getting married in two days, and he wants a guard on the wedding gift that he's giving them a small statue of a jeweled Chinese temple dog. Eben explains that it's worth $500,000,. His nephew Warren brought it up from NYC but didn't bring armed guard with him and just came up on the train alone with it.
Eberhart puts his deputies Ralph Brown and Stu on guard outside the house, and tells them to search everyone going out.
Julia and her fiancée Gordon Wilde are in their upstairs bedroom house and from the window see the deputies on guard. Stu finds Warren in the garden and asks what he's doing there, and says that his business there is none of Stu's business. Warren finally introduces himself and presents his driver's license as identification. Stu apologizes and Warren goes on his way.
Eberhart reports to Eben that his deputies are on guard and leaves the study. He lets himself out and checks with Ralph on guard at the front door. Ralph insists on checking Eberhart since he's coming from the house and those are his orders, and Eberhart affably agrees. The sheriff drives away and Tilda watches him from an upstairs window.
Later in the house, Gordon pour himself a drink. Julia doesn't want one, and Warren is busy examining a potted plant. Tilda comes in and Warren asks her if anyone ever waters the plant. She dismisses his concerns and says that lunch is ready. Julia wonders where her father is, and Tilda goes to the study to fetch Eben. Tilda knocks on the study door and then goes in, and screams. The others come running, along with Ralph, and find Eben dead on the floor, the Chinese dog laying next to him.
Ellery and Richard get to a stream, and Richard fishes while Ellery reads a mystery novel. Richard tries to get the big trout he lost a year ago, and Henry Palmer comes out of the brush and makes Richard lose his concentration. Henry knows them from the clerk at the hotel where they're staying, who directed him there, introduces himself as the town grocer, and explains that he's also running for election against Eberhart. The newcomer says that they have the first murder in the county in 20 years, and Ellery perks up. Henry tells them that someone murdered Eben, and figures that Eberhart can't handle it. He wants Richard to unofficially investigate.
When Richard says that he's on vacation, Henry appeals to Ellery and says that the murder is fascinating. Richard warns his son not to get interested, and Henry says that Eben was hit on the head with a Chinese dog.
The Queens go with Henry to the Wright home, and Eberhart insists that he has things under control. Richard is eager to go back to fishing, but Ellery asks Eberhart if he has any leads on the murder. Henry reminds Eberhart of the voters and leaves, and Eberhart shows the Queens the murder scene. The sheriff says that his men were watching the doors and the windows have been stuck since the house was painted a year ago. There's no footprints in the flower bed around the house, and Eberhart tells the Queens who was in the house.
Eberhart shows them the dog and confirms that it's been wiped clean of fingerprints. He also shows them the ledger Eben was reading when he was murdered. Ellery goes to talk to Tilda, while Richard goes back to fishing.
Tilda is hanging up clothes to dry, and Ellery asks her where the dog was when she found the body. She says that it was near Eben's head, covered in his blood, and she didn't notice anything taken from the room. Tilda mentions that Eben sometimes quarreled with Warren, but tells Ellery to discuss it with Warren because she doesn't eavesdrop.
Ellery figures that Tilda was fond of Eben, and she says that Eben was good to her. She came to the house to tutor Julia, and stayed and managed Eben's affairs. Ellery and Tilda leave, and Warren emerges from hiding where he's been eavesdropping.
In the house, Julia and Gordon both object to Eberhart about Ellery questioning them. Gordon figures that politics is involved, and Julia is shocked that they're considered suspects. Gordon asks Eberhart if Ellery said that he was a suspect, and Julia quickly leads Gordon to her bedroom, where they're staying
Richard goes back to the stream, and finds a man there already fishing. They argue about the man, Will Bailey, taking Richard's "spot". Bailey is trying to catch the same trout that Richard is, and hooks it as Stu arrives and disrupts Bailey's concentration, and tells Bailey that Eberhart sent him to get the man... who is also the country coroner. Bailey goes to the house with Stu, and Richard takes "his" spot back.
At the house, Eberhart tells Ellery that he's hoping to get Julia's support for his candidacy and doesn't want to support her. Ellery figures that as an outsider, he can question her without drawing her ire. Eberhart agrees and directs Ellery to Julia's room. Ellery talks to the couple and tries to work out where everyone. Julia says that she and Gordon were together when Eben was murdered, and Eben thought Gordon was marrying Julia for her money.
Julia says that she wanted Eben to make Gordon a full partner in his galoshes businesses, and didn't want the dog. It was on loan to a museum and all she could do was send it back to the museum after the wedding. Julia breaks into tears, and Gordon threatens Ellery. Ellery tells Gordon to watch his temper and leaves.
Ellery meets with Warren outside, and Warren explains that plants are his hobby. He says that Eben wouldn't let him near the business, and said that Warren lacked business sense. Warren admits that he resented it, and he was Eben's only male relative. He is interested when he realizes that he'll inherit the business and have his own office. Warren asks Ellery if he believes that a devoted nephew would kill his uncle to gain control of a galoshes factory, and Ellery tells Warren that would depend on how much the factory is worth.
Tilda comes up and says that it's worth millions, and invites Ellery in for fresh coffee. Once they're alone, Warren accuses Tilda of trying to cast suspicion on him. Tilda says that she knows what Eben thought of Warren, and Warren says that he knows what Eben thought of her. Tilda walks off.
Later, Richard is at the Queen car honking the horn. Ellery comes out, and points out that Eberhart has put one of his campaign pins on Richard's fishing hat. Richard figures that Eberhart is running scared and the murder is too much for him.
Later at their hotel room, Richard figures that Warren is the murderer, and thought his position was even more unsure since Gordon was marrying into the family. Ellery points out that Eben wasn't going to take Gordon into the business, and Richard figures that Julia murdered Eben so she would control the business and bring her new husband in.
Henry arrives at their room and asks how the case is going. Ellery comes in from the shower and says that he's going to have to sleep on the case, and Richard insists that they're getting up at dawn to go fishing. Henry gives Richard a fly he's tied himself as a gift, and Ellery says that he wants to ask Bailey some questions. Henry says that Bailey has breakfast every morning at the coffee shop, and Richard figures they won't go fishing.
The next morning, Henry takes Ellery and Richard to the coffee shop where they meet with Bailey. Ellery asks Bailey to focus on the murder, and says that Even was struck on the head and a woman could have done it. There were no signs of a struggle, but Bailey found a puncture in Eben's thumb that he must have gotten just before he died.
Bailey takes the others to his office and shows them the ME report, and Ellery asks the coroner what Eben had in his pocket. Bailey says nothing unusual, and Eberhart comes in and makes it clear that he's not worried about Henry's involvement. Ellery asks to see Deben's belongings, and Eberhart mentions the telegram. He says that it was from a NYC PI named Sikes, and it said a full report on Gordon would follow. Richard calls Velie to have him talk to Sikes.
Velie calls Algie Sikes in, but he refuses to say anything and stands on confidentiality. The sergeant pulls Sikes' traffic citations, and pressures the PI into talking.
Eberhart goes to his office with the Queens, and Deputy Ralph discovers that someone stole the belongings. Ralph says that he left the office for a minute to check the cells, and Ellery asks for the list of evidence. The ledger and the murder weapon are also gone, and Eberhart worries that it won't look good on election day.
Velie calls Richard and tells him that Gordon is an alias. Once Richard hangs up, he tells the others that Gordon had a long criminal record, and probably killed Eben to keep him from reading Sikes' report.
The Queen, Eberhart, and Ralph go to the house, and Tilda confirms that someone else signed for the telegram when it arrived. Ralph confirms that Gordon is gone, and Julia says that she doesn't know where her fiancée is. Julia insists that Gordon wouldn't run away, and faints when Richard says that Gordon is suspected of murder. Ellery catches her before she hits the floor.
Ellery and Tilda take Julia to her bedroom and wake her up, and they tell her that she fainted. Tilda tells Julia to face a few unpleasant facts about Gordon. Julia takes offense and orders Tilda out. Tilda goes, and says that she's leaving the house as soon as possible. Once they're alone, Ellery admits that there's a lot of circumstantial evidence establishing Gordon as the murderer. He points out Gordon threatening to kill him, and Julia dismisses it as a "temper flare-up". Ellery relates the evidence he's found against Gordon, and concedes that Julia might have seen it instead of Gordon and found out her father was having her fiancée investigated.
Julia denies it, but Ellery theorizes that Julia could have confronted Eben and killed him in a fit of rage when he wouldn't listen to her. He excuses himself, and goes down to where Eberhart is on the phone calling the state police about finding Gordon. Ellery goes to Eben's study and examines the crime scene, and Warren comes in with a potted fern.
Ellery asks Warren where Eben kept the dog. Warren confirms his uncle kept it on his desk, and says that Tilda would have married Eben if he asked her. Ellery finds Tilda sewing on the patio and confronts her with his new knowledge. Tilda admits that she loved Eben, and he loved Tilda until Julia got engaged. Eben put off marrying Tilda while Julia was single, saying that it wouldn't have looked proper. Once Julia got engaged, Eben told Tilda that he was too old for marriage and wanted to give his house to the couple, and didn't need Tilda. Tilda hated him for that, but she says not enough to murder him.
Richard joins them and says that Gordon used Julia's car so he could escape. He figures that Julia gave Gordon the keys and knows where he went, and now she's locked herself in her room. The trio go to Julia's room to see if she's harmed herself, and find out she's gone. Eberhart and Stu join them, and Eberhart figures that Julia joined Gordon. Ellery tells the sheriff that he has a hunch where they might have gone, but wants to go alone. Eberhart agrees and gives Ellery one hour/
Julia takes a taxi out on a dirt road, carrying her luggage, and she walks down a side road to where her car is parked. Gordon joins her and he asks Julia if she intends to go through with it, and she assures him that she does. He insists on not going back and talking to the authorities, and Julia says that she lied for Gordon and didn't tell Ellery that Gordon wasn't in her room the entire time during Eben's murder. Gordon wonders if Julia doesn't trust him, and Julia says that she loves Gordon and that's what's important. He figures that he's okay despite his criminal record, and points out that he could kill her and no one would hear her screams. Julia smiles and says that she still trust him, and they get in the car and drive away.
Ellery drives into Wrightsville and finds Minister Dell's house. He discovers the front door is locked, and peers in the winter and sees Dell marrying Gordon and Julia. Ellery finds an open window and interrupts the ceremony, and asks Julia why Gordon run. Gordon says that he sound the cops coming and panicked, and grabs a poker and threatens Ellery when the latter refuses to go away. Julia stops Gordon, and Ellery gets an idea when he sees the poker. He challenges the viewer, asking if they've figured out who killed Eben, pointing out the unused poker in Eben's study and the puncture in the victim's thumb.
Eberhart gathers all the suspects in the study on Ellery's behest, including Henry. Ellery points out that Eben was near the fireplace, but the killer used the dog instead of the poker when it would have been the most obvious weapon in the room. He figures the murderer wanted to use the dog, and points out that the dog is now missing. The killer knew the dog would be carried out as evidence, and Ellery recreates the murder scene. Dying, Eben tries to leave a clue to his killer's identity. The killer saw him, pried open Eben's hand, and took the clue.
Ellery points out that there was nothing on the belongings list that had a sharp point, and notes that the killer gave something to everyone: a re-election pin. Eberhart tries to run, and his deputies arrest him. The sheriff says that he knew he was going to lose the election, and was too old to start over as a deputy. Even showed Eberhart the statue, and Eberhart killed Eben and stole the dog to pay for his retirement. Later, Eberhart took the dog and all of the other evidence.
Eberhart tells Ralph to arrest him, and Henry claims that he had it figured. He invites them to visit him at the sheriff's office in a year, and Ellery is ready to go fishing.
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