Home from the Rugby club after taking a nasty knock in a match, Connon finds his wife even more uncommunicative than usual. After passing out on his bed for five hours, he comes downstairs to discover communication has been cut off forever - by a hole in the middle of her forehead. Down at the club, passions run high, on and off the field.This is a home game for Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel who knows all the players, male and female. But Sergeant Peter Pascoe, whose loyalties lie with another code, has a few ideas of his own.