The story opens with Arthur Paradown reflecting on the coroner's inquest following his wife Ethel's fatal fall down the garden steps, a fall for which he is privately responsible. We learn that Arthur is a wealthy recluse and intellectual, while Ethel was an ambitious social climber who manipulated him into a lifestyle he detested. Their marriage deteriorated into mutual hostility during their time in London and the Riviera. When Ethel returned from a trip pregnant and demanding an abortion, Arthur refused, leading to a miscarriage and a subsequent near-miss where Arthur almost slit her throat.
Soon after, Arthur met Margaret Pascal, a kindred spirit with whom he found true happiness. Unable to divorce Ethel, who refused to let him go, and pushed past endurance when Ethel destroyed his life's work by throwing his manuscript into the fire, Arthur hurled her down the steps to her death. In Part Two, addressed to his friend the coroner, Arthur reveals that after marrying Margaret, he began to be haunted by Ethel's voice and apparition.
Despite consulting a specialist who found nothing wrong, the persecution continued, culminating in the appearance of a shroud and coffin in his dressing room, and eventually a spectral attack that mirrored the murder. Driven to despair and fearing for Margaret's future, Arthur resolved to commit suicide, leaving his confession and a request to suppress the truth so as not to taint his unborn child. The story concludes with a framing narrative involving Mr. Ponders and his new butler, Millin, who is none other than Sir Roger Wallington's former servant, recounting a remarkably similar supernatural visitation that ended in another violent death.
