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.

Betty Hargreaves runs the nursing home in Ashfordly. She gets under suspicion of influencing her patients to change their wills in favour of herself and the nursing home. She may even have helped one or two of them into the great hereafter too. A series of petty thefts also seem to centre on Betty Hargreaves and her patients. Oscar Blaketon does a little private investigating and finds some surprising and disturbing facts about her too. PPC Nicholson is let loose on patrol and causes a traffic jam when he gives Gina a friendly wave. David gets a job clearing estates of deceased persons for an auction house and accidentally clears the wrong house.