There were two things seriously wrong when someone found Mr Meredith in the library of Ornum House and greeted him with a ‘Good morning’. For one thing, it was five o'clock in the afternoon; and for another, the greeting took the form of a murderous blow to the back of poor Mr Meredith’s head.

But Inspector Sloan doesn’t discover any of this until he finds the weapon, a large primitive club, topped with an iron spike. It is hanging in Lord Ornum’s armoury, labelled ‘Godentag’ which, as the vicar explains, taken literally means good morning.