The resurgence of the Irish brotherhood. An unidentified woman's body spilling out of a steamer trunk with freezer burn on her arms. The beginning of a new export industry for New Zealand that brought the country out of recession. An untimely earthquake. And a case with too many threads for Mr. Hardy.

Sent to the Wellington docks to watch for members of the Irish Brotherhood, Constable Foster narrowly avoids death — twice in one day. But when a body spills from a broken steamer trunk bound for Napier, and Foster's mate dies from a poisoned pie intended for Foster, Mr. Hardy is sent down to Wellington to investigate. The mustering on sheep from the north east, the slaughterhouse near the docks, and the new technology for freezing meat to transport it by sea, all have his attention.

Mr. Hardy now has several mysteries to investigate. Who is trying to kill Constable Foster, and who killed the young woman in the sea chest? Who was the young woman in the chest? Meanwhile, Beatrice and Aroha bond over a mysterious kidnapping, but will never agree on the issue of clothing.