 After hearing that his wife s old friend Dodo will be a house guest, Rumpole gladly accepts the case of an African cabinet minister, Jonathon Mazenze, a former student, now accused of murdering a prominent clergyman. Rumpole learns to his disappointment that this former British colony does not have jury trials in capital cases, and the trial judge has taken a dislike to him. Internicine tribal rivalries threaten the course of justice as Mazenze confidently predicts that if he is found guilty, his tribe will never allow him to be executed.