In May 1975, eight-year-old Darren and churchwarden Miss Wharton find two dead bodies in the vestry of St Matthew's Church, Paddington, their throats slashed. One is Sir Paul Berowne, a baronet and recently resigned Tory MP, the other a homeless man called Harry Mack. Dalgliesh is called in to investigate, accompanied by cocky DS Masterson and his new DS Kate Miskin.