When Samuel Wyndham, the director of the prestigious Wyndham Institute of Art and Culture, was found with his head nearly severed by a Minoan ax, the obvious suspect was his protege and future son-in-law Nicholas d'Abernon. But as Nick's trial proceeds, it becomes clear that everyone who works for Wyndham has strong motives for murder. As witnesses take the stand, the international dimensions and politi cal implications of the murder are exposed. Accusations of theft, forgery, blackmail, and drug trafficking lend support to Samuel Wyndhams's pet theory that the Neanderthal nature, buried deep in the past of human beings, is a key factor in his grisly murder."