One patient. Two nurses. Death isicatching.

Worried by the sinister political implications of his current murder case, Scotland Yard's Adam Dalgliesh is off to a teaching hospital for nurses to interview a prime suspect, critically ill arms dealer Martin Dettinger.

The hospital, he discovers, is a hotbed of blackmail teeming with mysterious motives. At the somber adjoining training wing and nurses' residence, the risk of death seems greater than in any ward. Two young nurses suddenly poisoned to death - one of them right before Dalgliesh's eyes.

Not originally assigned to these cases and against orders from superiors, Dalgliesh takes them on. With trademark cool, the shrewd, incisive detective is soon navigating a labyrinth of intrigues, jealousies and some very dark secrets. Someone is trying to bury the past and is ready, willing and able to kill again to keep it from being resurrected.