Whicher is drawn into a high‐stakes case when Sir Edward Shore, the former Home Secretary comes to him with a delicate problem. His son, Charles has returned from India, post Mutiny, with his young family. Charles won’t be drawn on the circumstances but reveals an Indian man, Asim Jabour, has followed him to England and has used threating behaviour. Whicher agrees to try and find Asim and put a stop to the threat to the family; he understands that the wrong kind of attention to the situation could place Sir Edward's reputation in jeopardy.