A group of animal rights protesters break into a medical facility, where they find more than they bargain for when one escapes into the nearby woods, only to find the remains of a dead body. Dalziel's displeased when he is forced to give up watching his rugby match to attend the scene. Meanwhile, after his grandmother's abrupt death, Pascoe tries to find out what happened to his grandfather who, during WWI, apparently deserted from a medical hospital to sail to America.