Daniel Penrose, an eccentric collector of antiquities and jewelry has gone missing. The police position is that he is on the run because of his involvement in the death of an elderly woman while driving intoxicated on sherry. Dr. John Thorndyke, noted expert in forensic medicine and medical jurisprudence, is not so sure. There is the matter of the odd bit of prehistoric pottery found in the coat pocket of the missing man. And the attempted burglary of a collection of antique jewelry that may just be stolen. More importantly there is the question of Penrose's father estate of one hundred fifty thousand pounds, the old man having died since Penrose went missing without apparently leaving a will. With almost nothing in the way of physical evidence, Throndyke must solve . . .The Penrose Mystery