Arthur Waldegrave, heir to a vast estate and fortune, perishes in a spectacular fire but rural detectives Inspector Saul Jackson and his bibulous but shrewd sergeant, Herbert Bottomley, establish that he was murdered with cyanide. Who would gain from Arthur's death? His brother Lance, plagued by debt and pursued by the frantic working-girl he has betrayed? Or Jeremy Beecham, a rising architect, whose engagement to Margaret Waldergrave Arthur has so bitterly opposed? When a second murder sends Jackson off in new directions, he discovers the mysterious Major Pomeroy, owner of the Calton Papers. In these papers, Jackson finds the underlying motive for Arthur Waldegrave's death. Now he can bring his investigation to a devastating and unsuspected climax...