In The Case of the Ivory Idol, Prince Yuan Sukang was the prince of Kahore, a small state on the northern frontiers of Burma and Thailand. Apparently a good man and well-liked by his people, he was also a particular friend of an English planter named Hobbs who manage some plantations in Kahore. Prince Yuan had made his brother Prime Minister. However, the brother, greedy for more power, murdered Prince Yuan. This action however appeared to have triggered a revolution and so the brother looted the state treasury and then stole a De Havilland Gipsy Moth belonging to Hobbs and escaped from the country, accompanied by his cousin Mr Kling.
Upon reaching London, the brother and Mr Kling approached Biggles and asked him to help retrieve an ivory idol from a temple in Kahore. Although Biggles was suspicious, the Foreign Office was curious as they thought Prince Yuan had died so they asked Biggles to go ahead.
At the site of the temple, Ginger met Hobbs who revealed Yuan's brother's plot. Hobbs confronted Yuan's brother, who tried to draw a gun. But Hobbs was quicker and shot the brother and also Mr Kling, who tried to flee from the scene. What started as an attempt to retrieve a statue for religious reasons turned out to be a pure grab for wealth. The hollow idol contained opium inside and Kling was found with two large rubies which he had prised from the eye sockets of the idol. Hobbs told Biggles that since the brother could fly, he would likely have shot everyone and stolen the plane.