Four brilliant men have died mysteriously -- and the only clue is the carved tail of a golden scorpion, left beside their bodies. The man behind the horror calls himself "The Scorpion," and he clearly is a man of superior cunning. "Scorpion!" Years before the whispered word had thrilled and alarmed Dr. Stuart. He had watched the Scorpion pass--a terrifying figure, in his monkish cowl and green veil, through which baleful eyes glittered. Now the scorpion had come again, in the form of a golden fragment, innocent enough in appearance, but in fact the symbol of a malevolent and desperate. It is up to the finest detectives of France and England join forces to stop the Scorpion and the twisting trail takes them through the haunts of London"s underworld to the seamy opium dens of Chinatown -- and from there into "the Lair of the Scorpion."