When members of the Good Comrades club start being killed, Holmes is called to their Scottish mansion to investigate. Before a victim is killed, he receives an envelope with orange pips. After each death, the life insurance of the victim is shared among the survivors. In all cases the identification is difficult, with the victims only identified by items of clothing or, in one case, a tattoo. Inspector Lestrade receives a note from a local shopkeeper, who says he has a clue. When Lestrade, Holmes and Watson visit, they find the shopkeeper killed. Holmes exhumes one of the graves and find the coffin empty. They return to the mansion and find a sixth member has been murdered and the sole surviving member, Bruce Alastair, arrested. Watson goes missing shortly afterwards and Holmes and Lestrade locate a hidden tunnel which leads to an old smugglers' cave: inside they find the six missing members of the club who had all faked their deaths in order to cash in on the life insurance, using the corpses of recently dead villagers.