34-year-old poet Ricardo Saint-André and his wife, 25- year-old Gabrielle come to Altrincham, Cheshire, to celebrate the wedding of Tracy Baltimore, daughter of their old friend, tycoon Mr. Baltimore. Altrincham's quiet suburb life has been shaken by two recent events: the disappearance of Phillipe Dupin, a French clerk man, and the detention of Dr. Knox, a dentist accused of having killed hundreds of his patients.
Once the married couple leave, Sara Baltimore, Tracy's sister, appears to hang herself from a tree.
Ricardo and Gabrielle, nonetheless, believe that Sara was murdered. They both work closely with Scotland Yard inspector F. Zayed, who informs them about the private life of the party guests. He tells them Sara Baltimore was about to marry Mr. Sousa, a Brazilian Football player, and that she had recently underwent a miscarriage.
Ricardo discovers the existence of Eleutheria, a pro- choice local secret organisation that believes the world is overpopulated, and animals, rather than children, should be protected.
After having interviewed a number of suspects, Ricardo and Gabrielle visit Eleutheria's headquarters: a Victorian mansion on the outskirts of Manchester. Ricardo sneaks into the second floor. He searches several filing cabinets, until he discovers a piece of paper, where several people wrote and signed "Don't blame anyone." Ricardo discovers that Philippe used to perform illegal abortions for Eleutheria, until someone caught him selling children's organs to pharmaceutical companies from the continent. Eleutheria sentenced him then to death. The executor was chosen in secret, through a card game inspired by R.L. Stevenson's short story "The Suicide Club."
Next day Gabrielle, Ricardo and Zayed attend a community reception organised to celebrate Mr. Sousa's return to the football playground. Ricardo interrupts the celebration to explain the murder of Sara Baltimore.
