"The King in Yellow" begins with a musician waking up the whole floor in a hotel. The "night clerk" tosses him out. This musician knows the owner, so the clerk Steve is fired. Steve goes to an address, and finds a body. He meets more people, and finds more bodies. When he returns to the hotel, an old killing is brought up. This clue leads to the murderers, and an old scandal. It is a crime story in which the narrator has apparently read Chambers' book and uses the phrase to describe one of the other characters.