As the island prepares for a hurricane the corpse of Leo Downs, a researcher at the university's meteorological unit is found. Though favoured by department head Professor King,other colleagues saw him as a sycophant and a nerd though Amber Collins,ex-girlfriend of Leo's room-mate Damon,was in love with him. Yet all the suspects have alibis according to the time codes on their clocks. Poole discovers that King is advising an oil company planning to drill on the island . Leo's notes are nowhere to be found and a Skype message to his mother shows he was planning something big. Was it big enough to get him killed? After the hurricane has passed Poole at last finds the evidence encoded in Leo's computer which leads him to the killer and their motive.