In conjunction with the police, Toby Dyke, an ex-reporter now of no fixed occupation, investigates the curious circumstances attending the death of a middle-aged stranger who is run over by a car one winter's night while lying dead drunk in the middle of a Devon lane. Driving the car is Anna Milne, an attractive widow from South Africa. By chance (is it?) the dead man also comes from South Africa. And he has Anna Milne's address in his pocket...