The disappearance of Sir Julius Hanbury - and the theft of several of his erotic paintings - provide a new puzzle for Morse to solve. Assisted by DS Lewis, Morse interviews everyone at Hanbury House and it is in the course of searching the grounds that he finds Sir Julius' body, appropriately enough, in the family mausoleum. The pathologist notes that he was the victim of a frenzied attack but the lack of blood at scene leaves the police to conclude that he murdered elsewhere. Sir Julius was a candidate to become the Master of an Oxford college and was known to have a have had a bitter rivalry with another candidate for the position. When Roger Meadows, a friend of the Hanbury's au pair, is killed in a car accident, Morse concludes that that he too was murdered. Jealousy, revenge and greed all play part in the deaths.他念完一首晋代陶渊明的拟挽歌辞，蹲下身来，在墓前的雪地上点燃纸钱香火，认真地拜了三拜，耳畔依稀听到传来的金戈铁马跨越冰河之声，闭上眼，便看到一员将帅长枪前指驱逐鞑虏，看到那些凶悍的异族重甲骑兵惊恐地退却下去，倒下去，而一杆高高悬着“岳”字的大旗始终笔直地指向天空。