Toynton Grange is a nursing home in financial difficulty. Dalgliesh has been injured in a drug raid and invited to go there by an old friend. A fatal "accident" happens near the Black Tower..

There are two mysterious deaths at the nursing home Father Baddeley invited Dalgliesh to come to--one is the priest himself. Poison pen letters are being received also.

Ursula, an MS patient, had run away from the Grange but decides to return. Dalgliesh continues to investigate his friend's death and learns there are many motives to explore. A fire in the Black Tower almost kills someone.

Toynton Grange's religious façade is revealed to have covered adultery, ex-cons, fraud, and even murder. Dalgliesh relentlessly investigates the two suspicious deaths and a fire that almost claimed another victim.

A vote is scheduled: will Toynton Grange continue as a nursing home under the Trust or be sold? Everyone suspects everyone else's innocence. Could the cloud of suspicion result in a suicide?

Although an inquest into the latest victim proves inconclusive, Dalgliesh has more success with Henry Carwardine. The inspector is near to a solution...