A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery

Harriet Vane, a crime writer, is charged with poisoning Philip Boyes, her former lover, with arsenic. The evidence against her seems overwhelming, but it is all circumstantial. The jury is divided and a new trial is ordered, to begin in four weeks' time. Wimsey visits Harriet, finds himself falling in love with her, and sets out to clear her name.

Lord Peter asks Miss Murchison to go undercover has a secretary at Norman Urquhart's law firm. She learns he was illegitimate and now paying for a nurse to care for his mother. Insp. Parker confirms Philip Boyes was definitely poisoned.

Lord Peter asks his secretary Miss Climpson to find out what Urquhart's nurse Miss Booth knows. Faking a seance Miss Booth admits that Urquhart has forged Philip Boyes Will to make him the sole beneficiary but can Lord Peter break him.

While on a walking tour of the West Country, Harriet stumbles on the body of a bearded man with his throat cut on a rocky outcropping near the sea.

Mrs. Weldon says she intended to marry dancer Paul Alexis and believes he was murdered. Lord Peter tells journalist Salcombe Hardy that the owner of the razor was the murderer. Peter and Harriet attempt to recreate Alexis last movements.

Old Pollock tells the police he sold Paul Alexis 300 gold sovereigns. Lord Peter and Harriet attempt to deal with his infatuation and her fragile state of mind. Looking for Mrs. Weldon's husband, Bunter has more questions than answers.