After the body of Lord Sigismund St Oliver is discovered in the Not Content Lobby during a debate, Philip North, Conservative MP, is called in as special adviser to the two detectives in charge of the case A brash and ambitious man, St Oliver's ruthless business dealings and waspish tongue meant that a number of important people had good cause to want him dead North's insider knowledge of parliamentary intrigue proves invaluable as he steers the detectives through their interviews and, as the police wander through the maze of motives and alibis, North has a chilling premonition