This is a short story about the murder of Mr. Lemuel Shackford, a wealthy and eccentric man who lived alone in a remote house in the village of Stillwater. The story begins with the discovery of Mr. Shackford's body by a milkmaid, Mary Hennessey, who finds him dead in his nightgown with a gash across his forehead. The villagers are shocked and fascinated by the murder, and theories abound as to who might have done it and why.