When a nursing student with a penchant for petty extortion is fatally poisoned during a routine procedure, Commander Dalgliesh and Inspector Massingham must find out

When a student nurse with a penchant for petty blackmail is lethally poisoned during a routine procedure, Commander Dalgliesh and Inspector Massingham have to discover which, of the many guilty secrets held by the staff and students at Nightingale House, was a strong enough motive for murder.