Nick is called in to investigate the, supposedly accidental, death of a horserider called Joe Richards when the pathologist report gives evidence of drugs in his blood stream. He discovers Joe's wife Susannah isn't quite the grieving widow. Could she be responsible? And is there a connection between Joe's death and the death of a petty thief? Meanwhile, Blaketon and Ventress seize the opportunity to teach Greengrass a lesson when he takes over a deceased villager's cock-fighting enterprise.

Blaketon and his team struggle to keep control when hooligans break into a war veteran's house, steal his stash of illegal weapons and sell them to the local troublemakers, but Nick discovers there's more at stake than anticipated when a bag of explosives go missing. Meanwhile, Kate's strange behaviour doesn't go unnoticed by her new boss, forcing her to make a shock confession.