: To commit a bank robbery, fraudsters offer a clerk a profitable job, and they themselves take his place. Sherlock Holmes intervenes and extradits police criminals.

Sherlock Holmes seeks help from a young man named Hall Piccroft. Mr. Piccroft served for many years at a brokerage firm that went bankrupt. After receiving excellent recommendations, he was looking for work for a long time. Having spent all his savings and already desperate, Mr. Piccroft unexpectedly got a place in a large banking house with a good salary and work familiar to him. Immediately a certain Arthur Pinner appeared to him. After asking a few questions about the current stock price, Pinner said that Mr. Piccroft deserves more than being a simple clerk, and he offers him a place in his company. He and his brother own a large hardware company, and they need a quick assistant. Given the recommendations received at the old place of work, Piccroft suits them. Pinner offered a salary twice as much as in a banking house, and gave a large deposit. Piccroft needs to go to Birmingham, where Pinner’s brother lives, and start working there. But first, he will have to write a statement asking him to hire him. For the bank house, let him not worry, Arthur Pinner was there and warned that Piccroft would not work for them.

In Birmingham, Piccroft was met by Arthur's twin brother, Harry.He led the clerk into a miserable room without a sign and ordered that all Parisian hardware dealers be written out from the French directory, explaining this strange task by the fact that the French system is different from the English. Piccroft was confused by the appearance of the office, but Harry explained that they had not settled down yet, and they did not need an advertisement, as things were going fine. Thinking of the large sum he received, Piccroft set to work. Having completed it, he came to his master and during the conversation he saw he had exactly the same golden seal as his brother. Realizing that both brothers are the same person, Piccroft turned to Sherlock Holmes.

The next day, Holmes and Dr. Watson arrive in Birmingham. Piccroft wants to introduce them to his master as his friends looking for work. They notice Pinner on the street - he buys a fresh newspaper. They go into the office after him and see that Pinner has a deathly pale appearance. He is ready to provide any kind of work, only to be left alone. Pinner goes into another room and says that he will come in five minutes. A knock and strange sounds are heard soon - Pinner is trying to hang himself. With the help of Dr. Watson, Pinner is recovering.

The great detective explains the situation. Pinner told Piccroft to write a statement, although verbal consent is usually sufficient because fraudsters needed a sample of handwriting. Pinner assured Piccroft that he had settled everything in a bank house, and sending a letter of refusal to work there makes no sense. Having a sample of Piccroft's handwriting, one of the scammers came to work on his behalf, and the second, changing his appearance as much as possible, distracted Piccroft. In a newspaper, he read an article that a robbery had occurred in a banking house.Beddington, the famous cracker, got a job under the guise of Hall Piccroft. Having committed a robbery, he killed a watchman, but thanks to the resourcefulness of a sergeant, the police was captured. The police are looking for a second brother, with whom Beddington works in tandem.

Sherlock Holmes undertakes to save justice from unnecessary trouble and sends Piccroft for the police.