There's a lot going on in Pickax these days - a new film club has been founded, showing old films from the early days of cinema; Koko the Siamese cat is making his stage début in a musical revue to benefit animal rescue; and five Amazon parrots have been abducted. To say nothing of a suspicious...
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.