When Chief Superintendent George Gently and his team gain entry to a flat in Putney, the recent disappearance of its owner is instantly explained - on the bed lies his married mistress, who has been strangled The fugitive, a young accountant named Thorpe, is spotted hiding out in the seaside town of Shinglebourne, which just then is occupied with its celebrated music festival But before Gently's arrival in the town, Thorpe is found battered to death and there is no trace of the money he stole from his office before absconding