Laura and Rocky have been given the task of tailing Victor Howells, a young man who has just been released from prison. He is described by Ken's client, Mr Pollock, as ""a vindictive and disturbed man"" and is expected to try to attack Mr Pollock's client who wants to remain anonymous. Pollock won't even reveal his client's exact address but wants 24-hour surveillance so he will know if Howells goes anywhere in the same district. Howells sees Laura and Rocky, so, with their cover blown, they try the direct approach and talk to him, telling him that they have no idea why they have been asked to follow him. Howells tells them that he was imprisoned for stealing watches from a jeweller, Mr Sinton, although he claims that Sinton framed him for the theft. The three of them plan to flush Sinton into the open by warning Pollock that Howells has given them the slip. They soon discover that Pollock and Sinton are one and the same! They lure him to a deserted boathouse where Howells confronts Sint
Harry has evidently gone up in the world since he sold Woodcote Park because he now drives a Jaguar XJ6. He is planning to start a security business from offices at a canal basin by the Trent but his bank manager, Mr Statter, refuses him a loan. Ken, Rocky and Laura have moved from Royal Hill and are temporarily working out of a very tacky caravan. Ken is on horseback, investigating water pollution and dead fish at a quarry near Dornford Hall for his clients, the peremptory and patronising Dr Sinclair Lewis, and Simon, a member of an ecological pressure group. They believe that the pollution is due to the dumping of toxic waste, possibly solvents used in the production of ceramics. Suddenly an air-rifle pellet is fired at Ken's horse, throwing him off. A beautiful Polish woman, Irena Tadeusz, who lives at Dornford Hall, rescues him. She tells him about a friend, Brigadier Charles, who was beaten up in a robbery. She is very frightened, so Ken offers to do a free survey with a view to f