A goods train speeds through the Sapperton Tunnel, but disaster strikes
before it can reach the other end as it collides with an unusual
blockage on the line: seven sheep penned onto the tracks. Specially
requested to investigate the carnage in Gloucestershire, Inspector
Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are confronted with a bizarre case unlike
anything they've encountered before.
Stephen Rydall, a director of the Great Western Railway, is convinced
that the tragedy is a personal attack on him and fears for the safety of
his shepherd, missing since the incident. Rydall has enemies: a churlish
squire, the scheming principal of the Royal agricultural College and a
local villain, always one step ahead of the law. But, as Colbeck
discovers, there's a prime suspect much closer to Rydall's own home.