Student nurse Heather Pearce dies during a training demonstration. Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh is sent to investigate, accompanied by his partner DS Masterson.

The timeline moves on to March 1975, and Dalgliesh is invited to Dorset by his old friend Father Michael - only to discover that he died a few days ago. Father Michael lived in a home for the disabled run by the enigmatic Wilfred, who has organised trips to Lourdes ever since he was miraculously cured there of a serious illness. When Dalgliesh learns that provocative resident Victor recently wheeled himself off a cliff in an apparent suicide, he wonders if his death might be connected to Father Michael's.