from the back cover:
Arnold Bennett is famous for his stories about the Five Towns and the people who live there. They look and sound just like other people, and, like all of us, sometimes they do some very strange things. There's Sir Jee, who is a rich businessman. So why is he making a plan with a burglar? Then there is a Toby Hall. Why does he find there? And there are the Hessian brothers and Annie Emery - and the little problem of twelve thousand pounds.