When builders converting a formeren girls' school, Chadleigh Hall, into a luxury hotel discover a skeleton in a sealed room, DI Wesley Peterson and his boss, Gerry Hefferman are called in to investigate. But they soon have a second suspicious death on their hands: a team of marine archaeologists working on a nearby shipwreck off the Devon coaster have dragged a woman's body from the sea. As Wesley investigates Chadleigh Hall's past and the woman's violent death, both trails lead in surprises ditections. Matters are further complicated when a man wanted for murder in London appears on the scène, a man who may know more about the case than he advies.