"I could kill Roland Fenderby". Dulcie Schwartz has reason to regret those words when she discovers Professor Fenderby's battered body in his office - and finds herself the prime suspect in the ensuing murder investigation. Although she had good reason to dislike the late professor, who had been calling her scholarship into question, Dulcie would never go so far as to murder him. But someone seems to be deliberately putting her in the frame for his death. Who - and why?

Her academic career in jeopardy, Dulcie must find out the truth - and fast. But when she turns to Mr Grey for advice, he seems strangely silent. Could the spirit of her wise grey cat really be fading from her life for good?