A gruesome tale today, after Susan Cushing, a middle-aged spinster, asks Sherlock Holmes for help locating her younger sister, Mary Browner, who has disappeared - and the fact Miss Cushing has received a mysterious package in the mail. The package contains two human ears, which are wrapped in coarse salt! Holmes is initially reluctant to take the case, but he is intrigued by the severed ears. Holmes notes that the ears are freshly severed and that they have been cut from a man. He also finds a piece of tarred twine on the package, which suggests that it was sent from a ship. Inspector Lestrade believes that they may have been sent as a practical joke. However, Holmes is not so sure. He believes that the ears are a message from Mary Browner's husband, who is a sailor.