Alleyn has a murder case on his hands when the body of Harold Cartell is found in a ditch not far from the country house of Percival Pyke-Period, near the sleepy village of Chalfont Green. In the village, Alleyn finds an angry artist who is determined to run to earth a forger who is faking her paintings. But is this connected in any way with the dead body? It soon appears that several people had a motive to kill Harold Cartell.