Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison (Dame Helen Mirren) is called in to assist another force in investigating a murder. Denis Carradine (Gareth Forwood), forty-six-years-old, was found dead in his house, strung up with electrical wiring. It has all the appearance of a drug-related burglary as two people were found in the home. A young woman, Sheila Bower (Julie Rice), is arrested at the scene, and her accomplice, Mickey Thomas (Jonathan Copesteak) is killed after being hit by a van while trying to get away from the police. Carradine had recently retired from the local country club, rumor has it that he was sacked, but reportedly was having difficulty meeting his mother's nursing home expenses, even though he had just re-mortgaged his mother's house for one hundred eighty thousand pounds sterling. Detective Chief Inspector Raymond (Ralph Arliss), who was unavailable when his Detectives arrived on the scene, doesn't much appreciate Jane's presence, which isn't surprising given the cozy relationship between the police and some of the locals. Carradine's murder is related to a land fraud involving several people.
