When the bursar of Lichfield College is found strangled in an Oxford hotel, Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Porter rapidly concludes that the killer is one of the nine college staff attending a meeting there, but who is the most likely suspect? Is it mathematics fellow, Tom Carrington, who found the body? Or was it the Master, who was the last to see him alive? Was the bursar blackmailing one of his colleagues? Or could it be a crime of passion committed by his former mistress? As the investigation proceeds, Inspector Porter and Sergeant Andy Lepage learn more, not only about the college and...

When Detective Superintendent Richard Paige is killed while pursuing a suspect, his pregnant wife, Bernie, is determined to find out more about his background for the sake of their unborn child. His mother, Eleanor, is strangely reluctant to speak about Richard's early life and Bernie becomes suspicious that there may be some dark secret in his childhood. With the help of two of Richard's police colleagues, she starts to piece together the story of his life. Richard's childhood sweetheart and her father reveal valuable information; but it is not until after Eleanor's own death that Bernie...

This short story relates an incident that has unexected and long-term consequences for Detective Constable Peter Johns. When newly-qualified nurse, Susan Parry, is found dead in her bed in the nurses' home, her colleagues call the police to investigate and DC Johns finds himself involved in a murder enquiry for the first time in his career. It is not just his career, however, which is dramatically affected by the events that follow. As he gets to know the other inmates of the home, he finds himself becoming personally involved in the life of one nurse in particular, and this helps to bring...