Dalziel is the sole witness to a death by gunshot in his neighbourhood, with the two involved men protesting that they were simply trying to stop the victim killing herself. Dalziel believes her husband, Philip Swain, murdered her, viewing him as the embodiment of evil. Theatre director Eileen Anstiss casts Dalziel as God and Swain as Lucifer in a community mystery play, while Dalziel is sent a series of letters from a woman contemplating suicide.