When Sheila Malory agrees to help out in a charity shop, her friend Rosemary warns her that about the 'control freak' manager Desmond Barlow. There's a clash of personalities but surely no-one would wish Desmond harm? When his lifeless body is discovered in the shop after an apparent botch Sheila finds herself at the heart of the investigation.

Sheila Malory allows herself to be persuaded to stand in for a friend for a few weeks at a local charity shop. Here she meets the unpleasant Desmond Barlow and his downtrodden wife, Wendy. Desmond, among his many community activities manages the charity shop and is forever criticising everyone else. His wife and son are completely dominated by him and everyone else is either slightly scared of him or permanently angry at him. When Desmond is found dead in the shop one morning there are plenty of suspects.