

An armed hold-up at 'Pie in the Sky' while jewel-rich Mrs. Burdett is present brings DS Stringer to investigate. His abrasive manner alienates all the restaurant staff, including the normally placid Henry. He accuses first Gary, then Nicola and her new boy friend Paul of passing on the information regarding the Burdetts' booking to the thieves. But Henry's judicious questioning of the victim brings the solution, in time for Gary to celebrate two years of sobriety.
Henry and Margaret spend a day at the races with her new client Bob Bishop, who is resisting a take-over bid for his cider brewery. A mysterious man shadows Henry and then the corpse of stable lad Ben Tucker is found in a horse-box. Bob's brother Tony owns the stables, which are failing, and he is very curt with Henry when he comes to investigate. On the night he died Ben had argued with another stable lad Jerry Lawless over female jockey Jude O'Brien but he too is murdered and Bob's daughter Liz, another jockey, is found in his caravan with a bag full of bank-notes.