1860, Wimborne, Dorset. Rebecca Tullidge, miserably married to her callous husband, finds some escape through a love affair with another man. After putting her drunk husband to bed one Saturday night, she sneaks from their lodge to meet railway officer, John Bedloe. But much to her horror, she trips over her love's corpse on the railway tracks. The railway director calls Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Lemming in from London to solve the hideous crime....

Araminta Jewell is a beauty; a dazzling young lady who manages to resist all the blandishments that come her way. But even her marriage to Sir Martin Culthorpe has not discouraged the rakes of London and she is still pursued with unflagging zeal. It is during her first sitting for a portrait that Christopher Redmayne meets the lovely Lady Culthorpe, although he has heard much about her. Before the portrait can be finished, however, Sir Martin is murdered....

"1862. A goods train is going through the Sapperton Tunnel when it hits a makeshift pen of sheep inexplicably set up near the exit. The animals are slaughtered by the impact whilst the train hits a pile of rocks and is derailed, seriously injuring the occupants. Inspector Colbeck is called in to investigate and discovers that the shepherd and his dog are missing. Stephen Ryle who owned the sheep is shocked by the occurrence which further affects him...