Sidney Rosenblum, a Russian born Jew, is recruited by the British espionage service and on his first assignment comes up with intelligence on the Russian oil fields but also sensitive information on their heretofore unknown Persian installations. He is detained in a provincial town by a zealous police inspector but sees a chance to escape. Rosenblum fakes a romantic liaison with the beautiful wife of an aged cleric caught in a dysfunctional marriage. Rosenblum's superiors are distressed with his less than gallant tactics and Margaret Thomas, the young wife in question feels humiliated at having been used. However, Rosenblum has a score to settle. An operative of Zaharov, an influential arms dealer working for the Turks among others, murders Rosenblum's London girlfriend in his zeal to obtain the invaluable documents from her.
In the midst of a strike at a local coal mine, DCI Bain finds himself investigating the murder of 17-year old Lesley Price, a local prostitute. She had witnessed a scab being beaten up by some of the strikers and then got into a car believed to be owned by Roderick Tate, the strike leader. Bain comes under political pressure from local Labour party officials to either arrest Tate or leave him alone. He also has to deal with the local constabulary who object to Bain being on their patch and who have a similar unsolved murder from three years before. When a local man confesses to the killing, Bain refuses to accept the evidence and remains convinced Tate is their man.
