Part 1

Wimsey is on holiday in a Scottish fishing village when Sandy Campbell, a boorish artist, is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, with the appearance that he committed suicide. Curiously, someone impersonated Campbell, making it appear that he died later than he did. Wimsey sets himself to find a murderer. Six of Campbell's fellow artists, including Wimsey's friend Waters, have a motive for killing the painter, and they are the suspects. However, all six have alibis outside the village for the time of Campbell's death, so Wimsey has to break one of the six alibis. Five of the men are red herrings, while the sixth is a fiendishly clever killer