Novel
At a party thrown at the Metcalf estate, the Marquise D'Irancy's Sultana diamond disappears when the lights go out during a power failure. Suspected of the crime is William Kirkland, the wastrel son of the wealthy Kirkland family, but William's sister Diana comes to his defense. Aiding her in the investigation is Clamp, a wandering peddler.
Novel
Rich young playboy Gregory Kirkland reads a newspaper story about a daring robbery, and bets his friends that he can steal a famous diamond tiara, The Sultana, from its designer and then secretly return it without being caught. Robert Sautrelle, who designed the tiara, visits Kirkland's home, and Gregory does indeed steal it. However, he gets cold feet before he returns it and convinces a woman he knows, Virginia Lowndes, to return it. Unfortunately, things don't work out exactly as Gregory had planned.