The body of Leeman Popple was found shot and floating in the canal at Norchester. He was a man who had flown high in the town, at one time being mayor. Then a scandal in the local building society had brought him down. After that and his degradation in the courts, he set-up as an antique dealer in his native town, but still seemed to corrupt all his contacts. The police at Norchester were under a cloud for suspected malpractices and Chief Superintendent Littlejohn and his old colleague Superintendent Cromwell, of Scotland Yard, were temporarily in charge. It fell to them to solve the case together.