The Spanish Cape Mystery

About “The Spanish Cape Mystery”

The story begins with a young heiress and her uncle sitting outside their summer home on Spanish Cape, trying to escape the guests at her parents' party. A one-eyed giant appears and kidnaps them, mistaking the uncle for a guest named John Marco. The giant takes the uncle and leaves the heiress tied to a chair in an empty house nearby. The next morning, Ellery Queen and a friend free the heiress, but by the time they return her home, Marco is found dead on the terrace, strangled and naked except for an opera cape. Many people at the house party had reasons to want Marco gone, including blackmail. As Ellery investigates, another guest commits suicide due to fear of a secret being exposed. When the uncle escapes his captor and reaches shore, Ellery is prepared to reveal the killer and the reason for Marco's nudity in a final dramatic scene.