A series of burglaries puzzles the police. Apart from stealing the silverware of the houses he breaks into the thief also tidies up the place. Furthermore PC Rowan suspects that the local saint miss Stirling is up to something. His suspicion seems to be confirmed when an incomplete set of figures she bought at an auction turns up complete at Ashfordly Hall. Kate Rowan has been filling in for Dr. Ferrenby while he has been injured, and now he offers her a job at his practice. But she has doubts although she has wanted that position since they arrived. Alan Maskell, a young man Rowans has helped setting up a motorcycle repair shop, is getting married to his fiancée Sandra and his father asks Greengrass to be in charge of transportation. But his lorry is not quite suitable so he "borrows" another one.

Aidensfield is in a fever of excitement when Nick and Kate return with their beautiful new-born baby girl and everybody showers them with presents. Only nobody else in the village knows that Kate is dying of leukaemia, and Nick tries to spend as much time with her and the baby as possible. He is even neglecting his job as police constable. That leads to several complaints against him because a thief is stealing petrol from cars in the village at night. Not even sergeant Blaketon's police car escapes the thief.

After Kate's death Nick Rowan discovers that taking care of a new-born baby is a full-time job, and he sends for his mother to help him out for a while. There is bad blood between Colin Dewhurst and his neighbour Oliver 'Tugger' Barker, who shoots at Dewhurst's cat with a rifle. And he does not stop at that and the matter escalates. Greengrass is visited by his nephew Norman. They decide to cash in on Norman's abilities as a dart player.

A young German, Dieter Lotschmeyer, arrives in Aidensfield to visit his father's grave, but he soon discovers that he is not all that popular in the village, because his father was a German bomber pilot during the war and dropped a bomb to lighten his plane before it crashed. The bomb hit a cottage which belonged to Jo Tyler and his family killing both him and his wife, and when the grave is vandalized Tyler's son is the prime suspect. Walter and Hilda Openshaw are on their annual hiking holiday in Aidensfield, but Walter would rather be on a voyage on the Orient Express. He and Greengrass decide to do something about it.

Arthur Wakesfield surprises a burglar and tries to scare him off, but gets a heart attack from which he later dies in the process. The burglar, John Tinniswood, hardly fares any better, when he comes home because his wife nearly tears his head off, but she still gives him a false alibi when he is arrested for the crime. Wakefield's widow is sure it was him though and starts to follow him around anywhere he goes. Special constable Hector Cowley poses problems of another kind. He is overly officious and a pain in the neck to everybody from sergeant Blaketon and down. And to a lot of other people for that matter. Cowley counts on winning a prize for his gooseberries at the local fair, but somebody destroys them on the night before.

PC Ventress has bought a building plot and wants to build a new home for him and Mrs. Ventress. He has hired Claude Greengrass and David Stockwell to do the digging at the plot. Suddenly they come across a 500 kg highly explosive leftover from World War II. And Greengrass gets trapped right alongside it. PC Rowan starts to evacuate the village while they wait for the bomb squad to dispose of it. To top it all little Colin Ellis has disappeared and is nowhere to be found when the school children and other villagers have been evacuated. During the search for him the police find a dead body at station master Hutton's house. Suddenly the bomb starts ticking!

PC Rowan responses to an anonymous emergency call and find archaeologist Professor Brigstocke dead in his library and the house broken into. The professor was said to hide a treasure and Greengrass decides to find it. Clues lead to the ruins of Saint Columba's Abbey on the Ashfordly estate. But also Mary Secker, who is writing a book on 12th century monasteries, is interested in the ruins. Lord Ashfordly is hosting a fishing party and is not pleased to find fishing net and no fish in his river. Blaketon suspects Greengrass is behind it and when the old scoundrel enters the abbey to look for the treasure, Blaketon is close behind him. They both get trapped and Blaketon breaks a leg when part of the ruins cave in, and Greengrass lights a fire to keep him warm.

An illegal radio station is transmitting from a ship just off the coast outside Whitby. When nurse Bolton starts seeing a young man called Danny the villagers are hearing wedding bells already. But a bit too soon it seems as he turns out to be her brother. Danny helps PC Rowan get a position as a DJ at the illegal radio station. Joe Norton is out of prison after serving a sentence for arson. He wants to turn a new leaf and has sent in an application to join the paratroopers. While he waits for an answer he helps out in PC Rowan's garden and hangs out with old friends. They fix him with a new drug that really sends him flying. Joseph and Greengrass think that George is charging too much for his drinks and decide they can do better end cheaper themselves.

When PC Rowan is on patrol one morning he notices Charles Carter who is camping on private land with his son Simon. But Carter has to permission from the owner of the land. Later Rowan notices man lurking around their caravan. The man introduces himself as Clive Loxton, a friend from London. Later Loxton turns up with a woman called Michelle Blanchard, who claims to be Simon's mother and that Carter has abducted him after they got divorced. By then Simon has been taken to hospital with polio. As president of the local Rugby association sergeant Blaketon is allowed to enter a team of his own. One of the players, Ken Fairbrother, is particularly good and Greengrass offers his services as his manager.

Jeb Hunter is attacked and robbed in his own home and suspicion falls on Errol Jones, an old acquaintance of PC Rowan from London, when a ballpoint pen belonging to him is found on the scene of the crime. It does not do any good to Jones' case that he is black. The talk of the village is the annual cricket match between Aidensfield and Whitby, and Greengrass is of course accepting bets on the outcome in addition to selling pesticides and fertilizers. He gets a special interest in Jones when he learns that he is good at playing cricket. And he is not the only one, but for quite another reason. Nicks mother Ruby is back in Aidensfield much to the dismay of sergeant Blaketon.