A conversation on the steps of a quiet courthouse in Sibley, New York turns to a chilling topic: how to commit the perfect murder. A mysterious stranger declares that the secret lies in striking a blow in a busy thoroughfare using a weapon found on the spot, allowing the tracks of innocent passersby to naturally erase those of the killer.

Then, minutes later and just yards away from where the conversation took place, a deaf widow is found brutally struck down in her dining room in the exact fashion the stranger had just described. The dying woman’s last words, “Hand! Ring! Ring! Hand!”, only confuse and misdirect the young detectives until Detective Gryce arrives.

This is the fourth novel to feature Detective Gryce, though in this one, Gryce doesn’t come into the picture until the end, where he plays a critical role in uncovering the true perpetrator.