If Captain Anthony and his friends are smugglers, surely they would be smuggling stuff into the Colony, yet they were talking about taking them off in a whaleboat. What on earth would you want to smuggle out of Western Australia? Thomas Morris thinks something most mysterious is going on in Bunbury where he delivers telegraphs: some telegraphs carry cryptic messages and there are strangers in town acting in an oddly inconsistent manner.

In his diary, Tom records the exciting adventures he has as he tries to solve the mystery and finds himself part of an amazing international plot.