Nuala Lyons

A womans body is discovered in the hotel bedroom with a knife stuck in her chest. Mark Callaghan is first on the scene and Detective Byrne has him marked as his chief suspect. But Mark has only returned to Dublin from New York because of his father's heart attack and reluctantly agreed to manage the family hotel until the situation is resolved. He never knew the woman.

Cait Roche, a solicitor, meets Mark in the hotel and he asks her to help him find the killer. She agrees but unknown to her she is already on the murderer's list. Her apartment is robbed and she tackles the burglar who grabs her hockey stick. He is about to strike her with it when Mark intervenes. They become lovers with the understanding that neither expects their affair to be permanent. When Mark has to return suddenly to Manhattan, his manager has the 'flu, he begs Cait to join him - for two weeks.

They return to Dublin to find both of their apartments have been trashed. Detective Byrne tells Mark he is now off the top of the list of suspects but will not be cleared until he had the murderer behind bars. He warns Mark that he may be in danger from the killer but Cait certainly is and advises him not to leave her alone.