In the beginning Clio Rees knew only one thing: that Luke Shaw had not killed himself. But nothing was clear. What was he doing in a Black Country boarding-house? Why his sudden interest in medical science? Who cut his wrists and held him down while he died? Most incomprehensible of all, why had he kept secrets from Clio? Grief and rage drove her in search of the answers. The investigating policeman warned that she was in danger; the pathologist in the case was also concerned; and a strange boy was watching her every move. She was to cause all three a great deal more anxiety before finally confronting a murderer whose reputation made him almost, but not quite, invulnerable.