When the residents of Morton Fendle learn that the local mill is to be shut, many also realize that they will lose their investments in the place. Alan Hollingsworth had encouraged the locals to invest but he is now bankrupt and refuses to explain what has happened to the money. Feelings are running high and Gray Patterson in particular, Hollingsworths one time partner, seems ready to do something about it. When Hollingsworths wife disappears, Barnaby concludes that she has been kidnapped and th
