The discovery in a freshly dug grave of the corpse of Arty Shaw is both an embarrassment and a puzzle for the Lichfield CID and a particular annoyance for new Detective Inspector Annette Portal, who is anxious to justify herself as a successful CID officer. Sergeant Stanton must explain to his new Detective Inspector how his surveillance of the small time crook has culminated in the murder and removal of his subject without his apparent knowledge. As if that wasn't bad enough, the suspicious activities of a local haulage company throw no light onto the matter, the head of the investigating team dies of a heart attack and D.I. Portal disappears Against the background of this bleak situation arrives Stanton's old Metropolitan Police boss, Detective Superintendent Malden. However, struggling with a badly depleted staff, Malden must entrust his former Sergeant with the main responsibility of the investigation, which has now become a potential matter of life and death for their missing colleague.