Summary DS Charlie Zailer and her constable Simon Waterhouse investigate when Geraldine Brethrick and her young daughter are found dead. The early view is that Geraldine killed them both,an opinion endorsed by criminologists Harbord and Hey,but her husband Mark,on business at the time,claims she was perfectly happy. However Geraldine's friend Cordy,who found the corpses,tells Charlie that Mark was a controlling husband. Furthermore his alibi is suspect. Against the advice of her friend Esther Taylor,Sally Thorne,having seen the murders on television,decides to visit Mark,with whom she had a one night stand,but,on arrival at the house,discovers he is not the same man. Giving her name as Esther Taylor,she leaves,taking with her a picture of the dead pair taken at a bird sanctuary. Leaving a message for Esther she arrives at the sanctuary,telling the sanctuary worker that she is Esther Taylor. Seeing the photo the woman rings the police. Charlie and Simon arrive too late to stop an unconscious Sally being driven away in the back of a car.

• Crime
• Thriller