Cec Drury, the butler at the Colonists' Club, has just closed up for the night when a body appears out of nowhere from above, crashing onto the roof of the car in front of him. So begins one of Dr Blake's most unlikely and remarkable cases.

Jean attends a local funeral where the coffin is dropped, revealing not one but two bodies. Blake's investigations lead him to a previously unsuspected criminal underworld in Ballarat.