After an evening of listening to a splendid rendering of Beethoven sonatas by young pianist Lachlan Brown, Inspector Faro is interrupted on his walk home by a terrified woman who runs from the shadows. But before Faro can react, hes hit over the head. The next time he sees the woman, shes a corpse in the police mortuary. When the body of a man who looks remarkably like the woman is discovered the next day, Faro becomes increasingly concerned. Could they be related? Why was the womans house burned to the ground? And where does Lachlan Brown, who claims he too has been the victim of an attempted murder, fit into all of this? Solving this puzzle will take all of Faros remarkable detection skills.