Chief Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis are called in when too little progress has been made on an Oxford murder The victim had been killed by a stab wound to the stomach, yet the police had no weapon, no suspect, no motive Within days they uncover startling information about the victim, leading to a staircase in Wolsey College and to Edward Brooks, who subsequently disappears Then another body is discovered and the list of suspects lengthens, although each seems to have an alibi