Inspector Wexford is faced with a seemingly ordinary case: a woman has been found stabbed to death in the Sussex countryside. It seems that there will be no problems in the investigation, but the inspector quickly stumbles upon a blank wall. Acquaintances of the deceased live in the area, but the name by which she is known here is fictitious, and no one knows her home address. It becomes clear that the victim led a double life. How do you order to investigate a case if the circle of acquaintances, possible motives for the crime and even the very personality of the murdered woman - all this remained in another life, the secret of which she took to the grave?..