Tom McElrath, gone from the role of Simon Fraser's assistant of 12 years earlier, shattered by the loss of his wife and expected daughter in childbirth, returns to Spancourt and his original job with Fraser in the hope he can "pick up the pieces." He is welcomed back and is almost immediately involved in the case of the murder of several lawyers. "A page out of Shakespeare," he says, "wherein Dick advises Cade (who would be king) "Let's first kill all the lawyers." Someone is doing just that, so Tom is once again deeply involved in conducting interviews of the suspects and doing the leg work, since Simon Fraser in deference to his own old age refuses to leave the comforts of his study. Recovering somewhat and making his notes which he hopes to turn into another book, Tom calls his latest work "A Return to Murder."