Robin waits outside a high school to catch Tia Thompson, a friend of the missing girl, Sapphire Neagle. Tia reveals that Sapphire was sexually abused by family members when she was young and subsequently grew up in care. Before she disappeared, Sapphire was seeing an older man in the music industry who gave her a ruby necklace. The man promised to get Sapphire a job as a backing singer.

Jade Semple tells Strike that she thought the body in the silver vault was her husband, Niall, as he became obsessed with the Freemasons after his brain injury. Niall also has a connection to the name William Wright, as his father wrote a book on masonic history that included a reference to a famous botanist by that name. However, she now believes her husband left her for the woman with a facial tattoo who used his credit card at an ATM. Before he went missing, she heard Niall talking to a woman on the phone and arranging to meet her at “the Engineer.”

Jade reveals that she got pregnant immediately after her marriage to Niall but lost the baby. A month later, Niall suffered a life-changing brain injury. She knows little about the covert operation in which he was involved, except that Niall’s best friend, Ben, was killed. After Niall disappeared, Ralph Lawrence visited Jade, assuring her they would try to find her husband. Jade promises to text Strike a picture of the note Niall left when he disappeared.

Robin waits outside a location where Valentine is working on a photoshoot as a stylist. She recognizes one of the models as Ciara Porter, whom Strike once slept with. She also locks eyes with a mechanic working outside. Murphy calls, angrily asking if she and Strike have acquired police photographs of William Wright’s body. Robin admits that Kim obtained pictures on her own initiative. Murphy reveals that the police officer who gave Kim the photos has been suspended.

Jade sends Strike a photograph of Niall’s last note. It comprises a Latin phrase meaning “everything lies veiled in numbers” (441), followed by a nonsensical list of words. It ends with the phrase “RL knows where” (441).

Strike’s police contact, Wardle, calls to warn him that Kim has a reputation as a troublemaker and a “Man-eater.” Wardle has suffered a series of misfortunes in the past few years. Shortly after his brother was killed in a hit-and-run, his wife left him. When Wardle admits he is off work with depression, Strike invites him to leave the police force and join the detective agency.

Robin finally speaks to Valentine, who responds to her questions with hostility. He is evasive about why Rupert gatecrashed Sacha’s party and warns Robin not to approach his sister, Cosima. Valentine accuses Robin of beginning a sexual relationship with Strike immediately after he left Charlotte. He also claims Strike was violent toward Charlotte. Valentine states that Charlotte used to call Robin “the pit pony” (450) as Strike dragged her “along in the dark” (451).

Robin’s mother, Linda, calls to announce that Carmen has prematurely given birth to her baby, Dirk. Robin contacts Ilsa to ask whether Strike ever physically harmed Charlotte. Ilsa assures her that Charlotte was the violent partner in the relationship and often left Strike with visible injuries. While she is on the call, a man suddenly approaches Robin wearing a gorilla mask and produces a dagger.

The masked man throws the masonic dagger at Robin’s feet and runs away. Returning to her flat, Robin hides the dagger in a freezer bag with the rubber gorilla. She realizes that the masked man was wearing the same green jacket as the mechanic outside the photoshoot. She realizes that, though he was likely following her all day, she was too preoccupied to notice.

Strike is forced to use his walking stick when he meets Robin in Ironbridge. When she sees him, Robin feels sympathy for his evident pain.

Strike tries to conceal his pain as they climb the steep hill to Dilys Powell’s house. Near Dilys’s home, Robin notices a blue plaque commemorating the footballer William “Billy” Wright, who was captain of the England team and of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Dilys is not at home, so Robin and Strike continue to the address of Tyler’s parents. The house is empty of furniture, and for sale, and as Robin peers through the window, Ian Griffiths emerges from the house opposite, rushing toward them aggressively. Robin notes Griffiths’s bravery in confronting Strike, as he is no more than five feet tall. Griffiths’s hostility fades when he learns the detectives are not reporters. He invites them into his home to wait for Dilys, who, he explains, is often confused and has likely forgotten their appointment. Griffiths is a musician in his mid-40s. He states that his wife died of cancer seven years earlier and their daughter, Chloe, is away interrailing with her boyfriend.

Griffiths claims that Tyler is a decent young man who suffered a series of misfortunes. His parents abandoned him, and he became a social pariah after a car crash. One night, Powell, his ex-girlfriend Anne-Marie, and her new boyfriend, Hugo Faber, were due to drive to a concert together. However, when Powell was too ill to go, he lent Hugo his car. On the drive home from the concert, Hugo lost control of the vehicle, and both he and Anne-Marie were killed. Hugo’s parents suggested that, as Powell was a mechanic, he tampered with the car out of jealousy, and the rumor soon took hold. Eventually, Powell told Griffiths that he was leaving Ironbridge and was taking a job in a pub “down South.”

Griffiths notices Dilys returning and introduces the frail, elderly woman to the detectives. Dilys explains that she thought Powell was the body in the silver vault as she heard him talking about silver to his friend, Wynn Jones, before he disappeared. Noticing a figurine of the Manneken Pis, a famous Belgian statue, Strike asks Griffiths if he has been to Belgium. Griffiths says that he has not and that Chloe sent him the ornament as a joke. Dilys tells the detectives that Powell loves cars and the Wolverhampton Wanderers football club, and that he has a birthmark on his back.

Strike and Robin order food at a pub while they debrief. Strike is shocked when Robin recounts her encounter with the masked man, and he observes that she should not undertake assignments alone, as whoever is targeting them sees her as “the weak link” (488). Robin is furious, pointing out that Strike’s sexual history is damaging the reputation of their agency. Strike lies to Robin when she asks why Bijou contacted the office. Robin leaves without waiting for her food.

Robin calls on Fyola Fay when her porn director partner, Craig Wheaton, is out. Fiona is afraid to talk to Robin, but eventually reveals why she believes the body in the silver vault is her co-star Dick de Lion. Craig Wheaton introduced de Lion to a wealthy freemason whom he recognized from TV. The man paid pornographic film stars like de Lion to seduce unsuspecting individuals and have sex with them in his flat. The man watched these sexual encounters from behind a two-way mirror and recorded them. De Lion disappeared shortly after he attempted to extract more money from the man by threatening to expose his scheme. Fyola explains that she tipped off Strike anonymously as Wheaton reads all her correspondence. Robin leaves Fyola her card, suggesting she should leave Wheaton.

Wardle tells Strike that a female officer, Iverson, is investigating the link between Oz and Sofia Medina. Wardle adds that when Murphy was separating from his wife and had a problem with alcohol, Iverson was one of the women he became involved with. Rumor has it that Murphy has started drinking again since making a wrongful arrest in the gangland shooting case.

Robin calls Strike, revealing that Plug’s son is being treated at the hospital for a serious dog bite on his face. He was bitten inside the address on Carnival Street. Strike realizes that Plug is involved in illegal dog fighting.

Robin and Murphy make an offer on a house, which is accepted. Strike finally agrees to put Albie under surveillance, and Robin follows Albie to a pub. While there, she receives a WhatsApp message claiming to be from Griffiths’s daughter, Chloe. Chloe says that her father has asked her to contact the agency. However, she cannot corroborate her father’s positive perception of Tyler. Chloe states that Tyler was possessive of Anne-Marie and “pushy” with girls in general. She provides the number of a friend, Zeta, who can tell her more about Tyler’s behavior. Kim arrives to take over from Robin just as a young woman joins Albie.

Strike meets his friend Graham Hardacre. Hardacre has discovered that after Ben Liddell was killed in action, his best friend, Niall, threatened to reveal the details of the botched SAS operation to the press.

Robin is surprised when Strike joins her at a restaurant where she is watching Mrs. Two-Times.

He tells her he suspects the Scottish woman leaving voicemails about the Golden Fleece is Ben Liddell’s sister, Rena, and may also be the woman Niall was planning to meet. He also shows Robin a 2010 article reporting the conviction of Todd Jameson for raping a 17-year-old girl. The accompanying photograph shows Jim Todd. Strike has spoken to Todd’s brother, a Freemason, who secured Todd the cleaning job at Ramsay Silver after his release from prison. In 1997, Todd also served 12 months in a Belgian prison for his role as a driver in a pan-European sex-trafficking gang. However, he was in jail when Reata Lindvall was killed. Strike has also spoken to Pamela’s husband, Geoffrey, who revealed that, on the day of the murder, his wife left the shop early as she received a text claiming to be from the woman with whom he was having an affair. Whoever sent it clearly had insider knowledge of their personal lives. Strike asks Robin about her property search and reluctantly congratulates her when she says they have made a successful offer.

Strike meets Bijou in a room at the Savoy Hotel to perform a DNA test.

Strike learns from Kenneth that Jim Todd has disappeared. Meanwhile, Robin receives a call from Chloe’s friend, Zeta, who claims that Tyler was known for tampering with the cars of people he disliked. After Tyler overheard Zeta suggest that he was responsible for the deaths of Anne-Marie and Hugo, he almost ran her over.

When Robin goes out to dinner with Murphy, he asks her if she wants children. Robin expresses uncertainty, noting that working as a private detective seems incompatible with raising a family. Her anxiety returns as she promises to make a decision about freezing her eggs.

Strike visits Jim Todd’s address and speaks to one of the men with whom he shares a house. He learns that Todd has been missing for a week. The man lets Strike into Todd’s room, where he has left a book on gambling. Strike gives the man £50 in exchange for the book.

On Valentine’s Day, Murphy makes it clear that he is unhappy that Robin has to work in the evening. He later calls to say another buyer has outbid their offer on the house. Murphy suggests that Robin might be happier with a one-bedroom house, which would rule out having children. Angry, Robin instructs Murphy not to pressure her and does not pick up when he tries to call her again.

As Robin watches the house in Carnival Street, Strike arrives and tells her that one of Plug’s associates has taken a vicious-looking dog to a compound and appears to be preparing for an organized dog fight. Plug emerges from the house with another large dog, and the detectives follow him as he drives toward the compound.

Strike tells Robin that he has discovered Dick de Lion’s real name is Danny de Leon, and his family lives on the island of Sark. He also shares his theory that Jim Todd helped William Wright obtain the job at Ramsay Silver and knew that he was going to be murdered. Todd’s book on gambling was full of misspellings, just like Wright’s CV. He likely also added Wright’s name to the interview list without Pamela and Kenneth’s knowledge.

Strike receives a text and, seeing his frozen expression, Robin asks what it says. Strike reveals he has just found out he is not a father, telling Robin everything about Bijou and the DNA test. Strike promises Robin he will avoid “women who’re walking red flags” (566) in the future. When Robin asks why he ignored them in the past, he says that “sometimes […] if you can’t get what you want, you take what you can get” (567).

At the compound, Strike tells Robin to remain in the car while he films Plug’s involvement in the illegal dog fight. After videoing one dog kill another, he is confronted by an aggressive spectator. Strike runs to the Land Rover, pursued by several men and a vicious dog. When the dog catches him and bites his thigh, Robin sprays the animal with her homemade pepper spray, and they escape.

Strike apologizes for calling Robin a “weak link,” admitting he chose his words poorly and was worried about her safety. Robin agrees to go with Strike to Sark to see if Dick’s family has heard from him since the date of William Wright’s murder.