When an unpleasant and unpopular local magistrate, Hector Bridges, is found shot dead in his house, investigations uncover that his wife was once married to one of their neighbors, Will Saxby. Saxby's current wife used to be Mrs. Bridges, his daughter, Fleur, is really Saxby's daughter! A new-age traveler, Orville Trudway, who has recently moved into the village was an old army comrade with a grudge against Bridges. Things are further complicated by the presence of a group of travelers on the village common, who proceed to hold a horse race.