It was the last thing that Ellery Queen ever expected to encounter. He was on his way from Los Angeles to New York. He took a wrong turn. Suddenly there it was, a figure standing on the cliff above him. It was a man--an old man dressed in a hooded brown robe. In one hand he carried a crooked staff, in the other a curiously shaped instrument, something like a trumpet. As Ellery got out of the Duesenberg and walked towards him, the old man turned his gaunt profile and jutting beard.

"The Word be with you."

And thus began one of the most curious adventures that has ever befallen Ellery Queen.