 A mobster survives a bombing attempt and plays dead, hiding out in a hotel room with two police guards. But the mobster is found dead anyway, of poison. A furious crusading District Attorney accuses Inspector Queen and the two guards (including Velie) of serving up poisoned chewing gum, the only thing the mobster had to dine on. Ellery thinks this unlikely because nobody opened the packet except the mobster, and starts looking for other ways the poison could have been administered.