When Lord Wellacombe, the Secretary of State for India, collapses in the House of Commons and dies everyone suspects a stroke. His death causes political waves as a successor is sought and there is the question of a bill to be put through. But then tests show Wellacombe to have been poisoned and not by any conventional method - a thorn covered in South American poison is discovered under the dead man's coat collar. Is this the work of an international terrorist or someone closer to home?