The daughter of a distinguished soldier, Bess Crawford
follows in his patriotic footsteps, volunteering to serve
her country as a nurse during the Great War. In 1916, she
promises Lieutenant Arthur Graham that she will carry his
dying request to a brother. When the hospital ship is sunk
by a mine and she is sent home to England to recover from
her wounds, Bess is determined to fulfill her promise at
last.
When Bess accompanies Lt. Meriwether Evanson, a severe burn
victim, from the Continent to England, she's surprised to
spot the pilot's supposedly devoted wife, Marjorie, crying
on another man's shoulder at a train station. After
returning to saving lives under German fire in France, Bess
is stunned to read in a newspaper that Marjorie has been
stabbed to death in London. Soon after, the depressed
lieutenant commits suicide by cutting his own throat.
Unable to resist involving herself in the murder
investigation, Bess seeks to identify Marjorie's unknown
companion, the possible killer.
After two London men end their business partnership, one of
them is savagely murdered in a medieval tithe barn on his
estate in Somerset. Investigating the killing, Scotland
Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge discovers that the victim was
universally despised in Cambury-even the victim's wife and
the town's police inspector are suspect. And yet in London
circles, the man was highly regarded. What triggered his
death? Rutledge doggedly follows a well-concealed trail
that finally leads him to the one person who knows the
whole truth. But it's too late to stop a spreading evil and
a vicious settling of scores. As the seasoned inspector
comes to understand the larger picture, he realizes he may
not be able to prove what he suspects. In spite of his
skill, this may be the only case in which Rutledge fails to
get his man.