One of the owners of a small private museum dies under mysterious circumstances. Perhaps the psychiatrist Neville Dupain chose an unusual method of suicide—but it’s also quite possible it was a carefully planned murder. The investigation leans toward murder, because nearly all of the museum’s relatives and staff had reasons for it. And when, in one of the museum halls, they find the body of a young woman with a bouquet of violets, all doubts vanish. Commander Dalgliesh begins the investigation.