Maisie Morris lives with her mum in a titchy tiny turret at the top of Withering Heights Retirement Home and plays gin rummy with the elderly residents. But all live in fear of Withering Heights' odious owners, Mr and Mrs Arkwright, who run a rotten, rigid regime.
The first message sent to Tom Thorne's phone was just a picture - the blurred image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies to know that the man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why? While the technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the bulletins for a reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives.