This self-contained story can be read as an introduction to the world of Kathryn Blake or as an opportunity to catch up with Daniel Thwaite on his first job since Vienna. We find him in more trouble than he expected, for Kate has come, uncharacteristically, to grief, and Thwaite, always better under pressure than he believes, must carry the day himself, unless there is any substance at all in the one puzzling reassurance that she offers him.