Artist Aristide Smedhurst lives in a small cottage in Dorset. Until recently he has lived a contented life, but the strange voices, heavy footsteps, ghostly tappings and ghastly faces at the window have changed him. He feels his sanity is unravelling fast, and, worst of all, he fears his fiancée is now courting another man. With no one else but a sleepy village constable to help him, Smedhurst calls upon Holmes to answer his prayers and get to the bottom of who is tormenting him.