A prominent judge is murdered on the opening day of the new Runnymede Crown Court, and Rosa Epton become doubly involved, both as a witness to the murder and the solicitor in a drugs trial over which Judge Ambrose was to have presided.

His replacement, Judge Holtby, seems unduly upset by the death of his colleague - and then two more deaths occur. But was Judge Ambrose the real target in the first place? And what involvement does Rosa''s client in the drugs case have in the whole business?

Eventually Rosa is able to deduce the likely sequence of events, but there is still a final secret to be revealed ...