There is a new face at the police station in Ashfordly. Probationary PC Tom Nicholson. He is a transfer from Scarborough, where he made quite a splash of himself and even hit the front page of the local newspaper. So PC Bellamy and PC Ventress decide to have a little fun at his expense. A number of items have gone missing from Lord Ashfordly's African collection. Lord Ashfordly is contacted by Chief Daniel Moketso, who asks his lordship to return some items which belong to his tribe's legacy, and the missing items are part of that legacy. Vernon Scripps tries his luck running a taxi service. If only it was not for the customers.

Las pequeñas flechas de Cupido alcanzan a todos. Incluso al Lord Ashfordly, quien sorprende a todos al presentar a su nueva esposa. En la primera noche en Aidensfield, los recién casados son asaltados por dos ladrones enmascarados y armados. Parece que están especialmente interesados en Lady Ashfordly, quien es atacada de nuevo al día siguiente. El oficial Bradley es asignado como su chofer y guardaespaldas. La hermana de Joyce Jowett ha fallecido y necesita los servicios de Bernie Scripps como funerario. Ella es muy exigente y, como era de esperar, él no puede hacerlo lo suficientemente bien -o barato-.

Marek Starosta y su hija Hannah son invitados de Lady Patricia en Ashfordly Hall. Son violinistas de clase mundial y poco después de su llegada se dan cuenta de que falta un violín muy valioso. Pero Hannah está más interesada en el oficial PC Crane, quien es enviado para investigar, que en tocar el violín, para molestia de su padre. Y sus sentimientos son correspondidos. Marek Starosta también sufre de una forma de artritis que eventualmente hará imposible que pueda tocar. Big y Little Jim llegan a Aidensfield y preguntan por Vernon Scripps. Ellos son sus primos de Liverpool. Big Jim sugiere que derriben la antigua granja Greengrass y construyan una mansión más adecuada a la riqueza de Vernon.

PC Crane and PC Bellamy give chase to a couple of hooligans in a car. When they pass the bus stop in Aidensfield Paul Dibley is teased by a school friend and runs right smack into the side of Bellamy's passing police car. He suffers only a broken leg and some bruises, but his father Don wants PC Bellamy prosecuted. Paul's sister Tracey has just started as a maid at Ashfordly Hall when it is discovered that she is pregnant. Understandably she is afraid to tell her father especially since the father of the baby is her cousin Lenny. To make things worse Tracey gets a crush on PC Crane and names him as the father instead when her parents find out about her pregnancy.

Oscar Blaketon recibe la visita de su antiguo colega Harry Hawkswell. Hawkswell es confundido por una célula comunista en Ashfordly con el destacado juez Yardley, a quien han recibido órdenes de asesinar por parte de sus superiores en Londres. Vernon Scripps también se enfrenta a desagradables sorpresas. Será inspeccionado por la Hacienda debido a la gran fortuna que recientemente adquirió y perdió. Aún tiene algo de dinero no declarado y una noche decide enterrarlo en el bosque, cuando casi es atacado por una puma. O al menos eso es lo que él piensa.

The police are on the lookout for stolen Russian icons which have been unloaded in or around Whitby from a fishing boat owned by Ingmar Larsen who is currently in prison for smuggling and violence. The captain of the boat claims he thought they were smuggling cigarettes and that they were ambushed by pirates just off shore. They recover one of the icons at an antique shop, and the owner tells PC Walker that he bought it from a blonde woman in her thirties. Lord Ashfordly is having a banquet for true gourmets. Vernon Scripps quite the right idea when he learns about truffles from the Italian Giovanni Viora, but he thinks the price is somewhat on the high side and decides to go looking for them himself. To find them you need a pig, but in lack one of those Alfred will have to do. And then of course you also need a truffle...

Young Denny gets hurt in a hunting accident at the Ashfordly estate. Luckily he sustains only a flesh wound. The police interview all the members of the hunting party to get a clear picture and also collect their guns for testing. But the estate manager Richard Bentham for some reason does not want them to talk to the beaters Gary and Colin, whom he tells to scarper. Bentham also fails to report an accident he has with his Land Rover because the brakes were sabotaged. Furthermore when PC Bellamy questions Denny the boy says that the shooting was no accident. That Bentham did it deliberately!

Lord Ashfordly plays host to a group of ex-offenders, who will be working on the estate under the supervision of Eric Grey as part of a rehabilitation programme. But not all of the young men are that keen on getting rehabilitated and only want to make trouble. For starters they steal Oscar Blaketon's car when he refuses to serve them at the pub. Dorothy Plum is complaining that someone is disturbing her little dog Marigold, but a search of her garden and the road outside turns up nothing. The old lady gets really worried when the dog disappears and she offers a big reward to get it back. Aunt Peggy is not a woman to let such an opportunity pass. She gets a similar dog with the help of an old friend and tries to return it to its "rightful owner" after a small makeover.

Gina discovers a cut off left hand in her dustbin. The police immediately start searching for more body parts in other dustbins in Aidensfield with no luck. The hand was in a box and in that box the police find a note in Bernie Scripps' handwriting. Bernie does not remember writing the note, but from its contents he reckons it is from a rough invoice he wrote to Ashfordly Hall. And it dates five years back. The discovery of a torso the next day leads to the conclusion that the body had been frozen until recently - and that it is murder! Speaking of freezing Aunt Peggy has bought a cheap freezer at a sale. She intends to use it for storing rabbits and pheasants, which she can sell in a store.