Plot: Dick Elgood, an old fiend of Dalziel's, unofficially reports two strange incidents which nearly kill him and asks Dalziel to investigate. The subsequent investigation by him and Pascoe exposes a chain of bizarre, accidental deaths stretching back nearly three decades but not a single shred of evidence to suggest foul play! Each of the, seemingly unconnected, deaths have somehow or other benefited Patrick Alderman even though it could not be proven that he had any connection to the deaths