Here is Inspector Tanner's first real clue. It is a small world and the possibility of old criminal acquaintances meeting at a Surrey roadhouse is by no means remote. Sketchley, where the Coat of Arms roadhouse stands, is a place of strange happenings. There are thefts of valuable gold plate, a suspicious old man, seen but not caught, a burglar who returns stolen valuables. When the local manor burns down the owner and guests move to the roadhouse, old vendettas intensify.
Murder is committed.
The Angel of Terror Jack Glover of Rennet, Glover and Simpson does not believe his cousin Meredith killed Bulford. Meredith's father was an eccentric and unless Meredith is married by the age of thirty his sister inherits everything. She is dead and Meredith, now in prison, is thirty next Monday. Meanwhile Lydia Beale is struggling to pay her dead father's creditors. When Glover offers her money she is shocked.