When a business magnate is killed, Miss Marple realises the circumstances of his death recall a nursery rhyme - but what does it mean?
A village is plagued by a spate of seemingly accidental deaths, but Miss Marple is convinced a more sinister hand is involved when a villager on her way to Scotland Yard is conveniently dispatched.
Carrie-Louise and her third husband Lewis Serrocold run a correctional facility for young men on their estate, Stonygates, where they also house a rag-tag of family and step-family.
After a fire tears through Carrie Louise's office, her sister, Ruth Van Rydock, urges their old - and somewhat less glamorous - friend, Miss Marple (Julia McKenzie), to visit the blithely unsuspecting philanthropist.
As the sole witness to a dying man's enigmatic last words, would-be young adventurer Bobby Attfield is determined to solve the riddle they posed, and forms an unlikely alliance with the beautiful socialite Frankie Derwent and visiting family friend Miss Marple (Julia McKenzie).