The body of disgraced college lecturer Gavin Miller is found on an abandoned railway line. In the four years since his dismissal for sexual misconduct, hed been living like a hermit. So where did he get the 5,000 pounds found in his pocket? Leading the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks begins to suspect that the victim's past may be connected to his death. Forty years earlier the dead man attended a university that was a hotbed of militant protest and divisive, bitter politics. Just as Banks is about to break the case open, his superior warns him to back off or risk losing the promotion he has been promised. Yet Banks isnt about to stop, even if it means risking his career altogether.