Marion Bishop, an elderly writer of romantic novels, is dying. Katherine Willis, kind soul from the nearby village, looks after Marion in a most caring wwy while coping with her own mentally retarded brother oftwenty. When Katherine takes leave to attend her cousin's wedding in Scotland. Laura and experienced nurse from London comes to take care of the failing writer, on the recommendation of the local doctor. A series of mysterious phone calls and the appearance of Raymond, Marion's rapacious nephew, set off a nightmare situation which becomes increasingly complicated when Katherine's brother is found murdered in a ditch. Deceit, suspicion, blackmail and incrimination are subtly woven into a web ofcrime which is completed by a dramamtic confrontation scene just before an ingenious twist brings a surprising close.