A PI and his sidekick tackle a case of murder and mayhem at a Florida lumber mill in this Golden Age mystery by the author of The Iron Spiders. Arnold Drenner had been warned not to take his boat through Florida's coastal waterways at night--especially alone. However, the businessman was never any good at heeding advice, and the trait appears to have brought about his demise. When an employee of Drenner's lumber mill discovers his boss's boat run aground, Drenner's onboard--dead. When Connie Drenner arrives on the scene, she's advised to sell her father's struggling mill. But she soon receives a frightening warning: it seems someone doesn't want her around either. Desperate for help, Connie calls on a family friend. Now, private detective Miles Standish Rice and his majordomo, George, must root out the source of the trouble. And they better be quick--before Connie is made to follow in her father's footsteps . . .  Baynard Kendrick was a founding member of the Mystery Writers of America, the holder of the organization's first membership card, and a winner of its Grand Master Award.