The old ferryman had caught many strange things in his time, but none so strange as the body he fished out of the harbour one summer evening as the tide was on the turn. To his horror, he saw at once that it was Captain Stanlake, the local harbour master.

In the few months that Captain Stanlake had been harbour master at Brenthithe he had made himself a confounded nuisance to everyone. That was perhaps not his fault, but was mainly due to his keen desire to make Brenthithe an industrial port rather than a seaside resort. He had made many enemies in this local feud, but would anyone go as far as murder—for foul play it certainly was.