Now old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once very different. As young and handsome William Green he changed his name to include his first wife's so that it sounded more impressive for the photographic portrait work he was so good at. But he was also an inventor and his search for a way to project moving pictures became an obsession that ultimately changed the life of all those he loved.
Jilted by his fiancee, Arthur Pilbeam gets a job as far away from women as possible. Alone in a lighthouse, he soon finds that 12 other people end up living on the tiny island. Thirteen is an unlucky number; and one-by-one they disappear ...
When a wealthy business man is found dead reporter Philip Trent is sent to investigate. Against the police conclusions, he suspects the assumed suicide is really a murder, and becomes highly interested in the young widow and the dead man's private secretary.
