Veronica Moran's eccentricities are a ruse to hide a dark past. When her history catches up with her, the frightening revelations end in murder and suicide. The story takes place in a New England town where Mrs. Moran disappears and her maid is murdered. Arsenic and an empty harp crate are just two of the clues that combine with other events, present and past, into the smoothly blended solution.