Even in 1933 New York, the Stamm mansion was an anomaly--an estate in Inwood surrounded by woods. One hot night, members of a house party go for a swim. A young man dives into the pool--and disappears. Old Mrs. Stamm is mentally disturbed, but her repeated claims that a dragon lives in the pool and is responsible for the young man's death resonates sharply with the others in the house. Even the usually stolid police are disturbed by the atmosphere. Only Philo Vance, for all his talk about dragons, is able to cut through to the heart of the mystery.
