Hot on the trail of a madman, vereran super-sleuth Mr. Mycroft engages the services of finicky decoding expert Sydney Silchester. The Sherlockian-like Mycroft leads the reluctant, complaining Silchester into the scorching Southern California desert in search of hidden clues. Along the way they enlist a capricious psychic, stumble upon corpses, follow an overly curious guide, and track an ingenious but ultimately careless murderer. ...Reply Paid finds its startling climax in the barren Utah wilderness amid a ring of desert monoliths resembling Stonehenge. There Mr. Mycroft reveals the chesslike motives of the players and the shocking grand design of the evil mastermind.
