The bodies were discovered at 8.45 on the morning of Wednesday 18 September by Miss Emily Wharton, a 65-year-old spinster of the parish of St Matthews in Paddington, and Darren Wilkes, a 10-year-old waif of no particular parish, her unlikely companion. Both bodies had their throats cut with gaping precision: one is a local tramp, the other an ex-Minister of State. Adam Dalgleish finds himself confronted with the most confused and convoluted case of his career.