 Morse is pressed into service when, while attending a college dinner for an eclectic group of foreign summer students, a Japanese member of the group suddenly excuses himself and a short time later is found brutally murdered in his room. There are any number of suspects, several of whom had bad experiences with the Japanese during World War II and at least one student that is clearly not what he claims to be. When traces of drugs are found on the Japanese student s clothing the drug squad is now involved. But when a second member of the group is murdered, Morse is convinced that this is far more than a simple case of drug smuggling gone awry.