Of the six convicts Robert Ashe tries to help on his weekly visit to the prison, Terry Booth is the most “promising”. It seems that Terry, only twenty-four years old, has gained something positive from Ashe’s confidence and friendship: that on his release he might make a new start and put behind him the first terrible crime that led to his conviction and imprisonment.

Upon his discharge, Ashe helps Terry with a possible job in a garage. He meets the owner of the garage, Laurence Winter, and his charming, but somewhat coy wife, Mavis, who both seem happy to give Terry a chance at ‘going straight’. Terry has a violent past but Ashe is almost sure he can be trusted. That is, until it is discovered that someone has attempted to steal some cash from the garage office, and then a dreadful murder is committed—and Terry has disappeared.