Wexford and his colleagues now knows the identity of Anita Margolis's killer, but there is a problem - he died some 18 months before the murder. Are the detectives investigations at a halt?

A gold lighter is found and provides a vital clue to the girl's disappearance. Its inscription reads 'For the girl who lights up my life' but which girl? And where is the body?

Who is Ann? Who is Geoff Smith? Who sent the anonymous letter? Inspector Wexford and his team appear nowhere nearer solving the mystery. Perhaps if the missing girl's body was found, things would becomes clearer. But where to begin?

One evening, someone messes up a love-nest on a side street in a small country town. The carpet is soaked with human blood, but there is no body to be found. Meanwhile, a beautiful, promiscuous woman goes missing - as does the bundle of cash she was carrying. But Wexford and Burden have different theories about the disappearance of the eccentric Anita Margolis.