Captain Jan Henderson master of the cargo ship Henrietta Anne trading between London and Holland is working with mysterious conspirators (Sir Gregory Fawsitt and Lady Judith Martellon) to smuggle goods from Holland to London. His deck boy, David, falls in love with Judy, a pretty dancer. When Anthony Loman, an haggard traveler, staggers up the stairs of the tenement house at Bunter's Buildings, Judy listens while he is flung to his death. As Police Sergeant Sanders' investigation draws closer to the truth, will the killers be brought to justice? „The Magnificent Hoax" is a novel of drug-smuggling with yacht cruises to the Orient, Scotland Yard, aristocratic beauties and London's waterfront.