Successful barrister, Nicholas Chadwack, plots to murder Angela Stephenson, his mistress, when she wants from him to give her money, so she would keep their affair as a secret. He successfully frames one of his clients with the murder by planting forensic evidence at the murder scene, whom he then ""defends"" in court. The story plays out in flashbacks which are presented in reverse chronological order - so we first see the trial, then the method of framing, then the murder, then the development of the motive.