It comes as no surprise when Inspector Hornleigh and his assistant, Sergeant Bingham, go to enjoy the winds and rains on their annual seaside vacation, when they run into a "busman's holiday." One of their fellow boarders at Balmoral Guest House, Captain Fraser of the Royal Navy, goes out one dismal night, with his pet terrier, and is found crushed and burned to death, in his wrecked roadster at the foot of a cliff. Hornleigh and Bingham, residing at Brighthaven incognito and the last people to see Fraser,are taken into custody by the local police. It was impossible to identify the charred body and the dog is missing. Hornleigh, suspecting murder, identifies himself and goes to work on the case. Hornleigh proves that the crash was neither suicide nor accident, and that the body is not Fraser, despite an identifying tattoo on the back of the hand.