When a spate of burglaries leave the police with no leads, Nick suspects local saint Penelope Stiling is not as perfect as villagers think when items she purchased at an auction turn up at one of the crime scenes, whilst Blaketon is more concerned with protecting the next target, Ashfordly Hall. Meanwhile, Alan Maskell is getting married and his father asks Greengrass to organize the transport. At the wedding, Alan's best man causes a stir when he is found in possession of drugs.

When Aidensfield is visited by a family of gypsies, the residents are up in arms against them. Nick discovers the family patriarch, Joseph, an old friend of Greengrass and Ferrenby, has returned to his native soil before cancer ends his life. As they attempt to help the family, Nick and Kate put their own lives at risk when they come under attack from local bigots, and village life descends further into chaos when the church is robbed, the shop is trashed and the vicar's daughter falls in love with Joseph's son.