Arthur Meadows has just returned home in his HGV from a long trip to south-west Europe, supposedly bringing back a consignment of cloth, yet is actually bringing back something far more deadly. Meanwhile, a young Asian couple are murdered in their small house in the middle of Gloucester, the killings done with ruthless efficiency. Beverley Wharton, now Chief Inspector, does not relish the investigation of the murders because she does not get on with her new sergeant, and because the pathologist, Charles Sydenham, would not have been her first choice. That honour would have gone to John Eisenmneger, but he has own problems trying to work out why Arthur Meadows has died so unexpectedly...