Ellery Queen was the pseudonym of two cousins: Frederick Denny (1905–1982) and Manfred Lee (1905–1971). They have written about 30 detective stories that share a common hero, detective and crime novelist Ellery Queen, whose fame rivals that of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. The work of the brothers-co-authors basically fits into the mainstream of a classic detective story, where there are enough confusing logical moves, false leads, and ingenious traps. Ellery Queen is not only the pseudonym of two writers, but also the protagonist of many of their works - a professional writer of detective stories and an amateur detective who comes to the aid of her father, police inspector Richard Queen, when another criminal nut turns out to be too tough for him. In the presented story Ellery helps Nikki Porter, his future secretary, escape from being accused of murdering the wealthy owner of the Health House, who was found dead in his office. The piquancy of this investigation is given by the periodic disappearances of the body of the murdered man, which infuriates Inspector Queen. The story is considered non-canonical, as it represents an alternative version of the development of events in Ellery’s life to the novels, and is the first in a series of stories about Nikki Porter.