The last of the Brackenstalls is dead and a shadow has fallen across the monogram and coat of arms. Sir Eustace has been bludgeoned to death in his dining room with a poker. Lady Mary, Sir Eustace's beautiful young Australian-born wife, has herself been attacked by a gang of intruders before the fatal encounter. What appears to be a common burglary later has Holmes reconsidering. Something in the Abbey Grange dining room is nagging at his mind.