Overview

A novelist turns detective to clear up a murder mystery that prevents the murdered man's daughter from marrying him. He proceeds on the theory that murderers return to the scene of their crime. The former gardner and suspect turns up and is engaged along with the old housekeeper. The discovery of the jade god in a secret panel is heightened by the arrival of a strange East Indian peddler. His offer to unearth the criminal is accepted and results in a hypnotic seance during which the peddler escapes with the god, but is captured. The final stroke of detection is accomplished in reliving the events leading up to the crime during which a confession is forced from the criminal, who commits suicide. The idol is then smashed to end its spell. So the daughter finds love with the novelist.