Second Australian edition. (First published in America by Doubleday, in 1945; UK by Aldor in 1946; and in Australia by Angus & Robertson a year later. In this edition the diagram [i Strange symbols direct Bony in his search for a murderer ] is featured on the front panel of the dust wrapper instead of in the text.)

In an isolated hut not far from the sleepy country town of Merino, stockman George Kendall is found dead – and it looks very much like murder. Six weeks later Bony arrives incognito at Merino and provokes the local police to lock him up. There is method in Bony’s madness – in semi-detention he is made to paint the police station and keeps a perfect disguise while searching for single-minded killer…

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