After a series of jewellery robberies in which safes are blown using gelignite, Roger West, of Scotland Yard, has to find the perpetrator. Then there is a killing at Jefferson's, London's largest department store. The victim had been living with his daughter and son-in-law, Billy. Billy's grief appears tinged with something akin to fear, and there are some unexplained bruises around his jaw, not to mention something not quite right about the restaurant where he works. Gerald Starkey, the Chairman of Jefferson's is far from helpful and so West decides to delve into his and his family's background. Then violence erupts again and West must uncover the secrets that everyone appears to be hiding.