 Stockbroker Nigel Timson, one of the rare members of the notorious Timson clan working legitimately, is arrested on his birthday and accused of insider trading. He claims to have bought the stock in question on behalf of a mysterious old woman, but proving it proves difficult, especially when he is unable to explain a deposit of 20,000 pounds in his personal account. The situation is complicated by his relationship with his boss s daughter, with whom he is living. Rumpole, his defense counsel, is distracted by Hilda s efforts to make him a QC and accusations by Ballard that his clerk Henry is stealing.