Against the background of Washington and the lovely Maryland countryside, a vivid drama of death and intrigue plays out. Its terrified players are high in the social life of the Capitol-men and women who belong to a world that violence and tragedy cannot touch...but somehow did. Justice Frazier is shot down on the terrace of his mansion in sight of the others. The next attempt almost killed-almost. And then a woman is found sitting bolt upright in a great chair and staring straight into space...with eyes that cannot see.

Major Heath, who has sought criminals across half the world, finds himself blocked by clues that are not clues, by threads which will not join. But the thing that may betray the killer is not a clue at all, only the almost fogotten sound of footsteps on a flight of stairs...