Inspector Blair is on leave in England, and our story opens at Barminster, the quiet old county seat of western Hamptonshire in rural England. Below us, as we look from the window of Ashley Cottage, we see the winding streets of the quaint old cities, sleeping in the haze of a summer day. Ashley Cottage is the home of Colonel Markham, Chief of the County Police. His wife, Peggy Markham, is the wife of Inspector Blair, who arrives today from Canada.