December 1942. The death of Grace Phillips, a young worker in a local munitions factory, arouses suspicions. The subsequent murder of Detective Paul Milner's estranged wife, Jane, seems to confirm that Grace's death was no accident. But the evidence points to Milner himself as Jane's murderer.

March 1943. While investigating a gambling ring and incidents of sabotage, Foyle becomes distracted by a personal crisis. His troubled goddaughter, Lydia, shows up unexpectedly at his doorstep--along with her young son James, a boy so deeply traumatized by a bomb strike at his school that he refuses to speak.