Morse is joined by policewoman Shirley Trewlove when college drop-out and artist Simon Hallward dies in a house fire. Simon had previously been a member of Gideon Finn's hippie commune but left after six months. At the same time Leo Richardson's supermarket chain falls victim to anti-Apartheid protesters and food contamination as blackmail, the latter causing a customer's death and being linked to Hallward. Then the Richardsons' daughter Verity is kidnapped for six figure ransom - Morse doing the drop and rescuing her though the kidnapper remains at large. Morse establishes a connection between Richardson's promiscuous wife Annette and Hallward as well as discovering that Verity is keeping secrets from her parents - which leads him to crack the case.
—don @ minifie-1