A country estate becomes the focus of a baffling series of assaults and deaths centered on a labyrinthine garden maze. Two brothers and a dependent younger sibling share the house with guests and staff while a barrister's recent courtroom case provides a parallel legal thread. Investigation moves through interviews and police procedure, toxicological evidence linked to a pot of curare, a burglary and forged cheque, and repeated attacks that escalate into a siege of the maze. Detective work teases out opportunity, method, and motive before an outcome reveals how the crimes were planned and executed.