It's a big day at Christophe et Cie, a small couture house off Regent Street.
Mr Bevan will announce which of his staff he is sending to France to be general manager of a new branch in Deauville.
Events take a dramatic turn when one of the contenders collapses and dies, poisoned by the oxalic acid crystals that another employee has been using to clean her hat.
Inspector Charlesworth and Sergeant Wyler have a murder enquiry on their hands. Behind the glamour and gossip of a 1930s fashion house, secrets and lies are rife and more than one person may have harboured resentment towards the victim.
