In The Case of the Haunted Island, Captain Nathaniel Clark was the master of the trading schooner Mahina. When the Mahina called at the Pacific atoll of Oto-Via, Clark discovered the freighter Belinda aground on the atoll with a valuable cargo of canned goods and her master Captain David MacDonald still living on board. Clark murdered MacDonald and had the cargo transfered to his ship. Clark also took the marine instruments from the Belinda.
After the murder, Clark told the islanders of Oto-Via that MacDonald had killed himself and that his ghost would haunt the island. He persuaded the islanders to leave, offering to take the women and children in his ship while the men follow in their canoes.
Clark sold most of the Belinda's cargo around the islands and finally sold the Mahina with forty tons of cargo and some instruments to Captain Hay. Clark had told Hay that he had made his pile and was returning to England. He then took passage on the Esperence for Southampton.
Unfortunately for Clark, Biggles and Marcel were on his trail and were able to get back to England before the Esperence docked. Clark was arrested upon arrival. A pipe, the murder weapon, had been found on the Belinda with Clark's fingerprints on it. A gold watch inscribed with MacDonald's name had been found in Clark's luggage. These items were among the evidence used to convict Clark for the murder of MacDonald.