Mr. Royston is driving his hansom through the night-time streets of Melbourne when he is hailed by a man supporting a slumped, intoxicated figure, and requesting that the cabman take the unfortunate fellow home - before proceeding to drop his burden and make a rapid exit. Bundling the drunken man onto the seat, the cabman is startled by the reappearance of the good Samaritan, who joins his acquaintance inside - but jumps out before the end of the journey. And when Royston, receiving no response to his inquiries about directions, peers into the cab, he finds that his passenger is now a corpse...