David

In 1966 Sire Walter Springfellow, head of Australian intelligence, vanished mysteriously and without a trace. As a young constable, Scobie Malone investigated the disappearance. Years later some bones are found up in the hills which are presumed to be Sir Walter’s, and Detective Inspector Malone finds himself back on the case. Then comes news that there has been another death in the family, and one of the Springfellows is to be charged with murder.

A nun is found murdered on the steps of the Quality Couch, Sydney’s most expensive house of ill repute. She is Sister Mary Magdalene, an idealistic young woman who previously had worked at a mission in Nicaragua. Detective Inspector Scobie Malone, that most human of cops, picks up the trail when he discovers that her real name was Teresa Hourigan - the illegitimate granddaughter of Fingal Hourigan, one of Australia’s most powerful businessmen, who is currently entertaining some rich contras at his palatial home. The case leads Malone deep into Hourigan’s murky past and threatens to expose the secret the old man has kept since 1929....