It was the banging of a door which awoke the farm manager in the middle of the night. A storm was raging and animal feed was stored in the barn so he knew that he had no choice but to get out of bed. Once there he found the mutilated body of a woman on an altar of hay bales. Worse was to come though. When the police try to rouse the family at the manor house they find that the husband of the dead woman, the daughter of the family and her school friend have all been murdered. The murdered woman's son is missing but it's impossible to tell whether he's a fugitive or in danger himself. Superintendent Mike Yeadings of Thames Valley Police has the gruesome task of investigating the murders.