Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute of Romance Philology, engaged in a never-ending quest to win the respect he feels is due, learns to play tennis, and forces a college chum to enter into a duel.

Hired to teach four orphaned girls at remote, ramshackle Aldwick Castle, Miss Concordia Glade is pleased to find her pupils both eager and bright. Provided for by an unseen benefactor, they are surrounded at all times by hard-eyed guards in the guise of gardeners. During an investigation into a woman's death, private inquiry agent Ambrose Wells finds himself on the castle grounds -- and in the middle of chaos. The building is in flames. People are...