When an arsonist and murderer threatens to set fire to the local MP's home, Detective Inspector Michael Angel has two suspects: one has disappeared, the other is locked up in a cell. But what do twelve umbrellas found hanging from his bedroom ceiling mean? Will the umbrella man be able to execute his threat while still in police custody? Meanwhile, the murder of a famous stage magician's assistant appears to be a copy of an unsolved crime committed twenty-five years previously.