"Aye, it were t'dog that found him,' Ada said. I'm not right keen to go up that ginnel at the back o't'flats at night, am I? There's no streetlights up there, you know. But Sandy ran up and started barking. And then t'other dog - Tom Carter's dog - started up, too, and they both came running back down together, carrying on like nobody's business. You've never heard such a racket."

"So you went up to have a look?"

"Aye, well, not straight away, but I thought it were right peculiar for Tom's terrier to be running around with his lead dangling like that. Tom was always so careful with that dog. "

A struggle between good and evil.
Tom Carter is killed and a young hot headed fellow, Joey Macready is almost immediately arrested and charged, despite a general dearth of evidence. Social worker Kate Weston, works to convince the police inspector to investigate a broader range of suspects and eventually the crime spills out into the local waters and historic events. ( )