After a call girl is found dead in a skip, an Arab sheikh's chauffeur is charged with killing her, but the evidence points to the sheikh himself being involved in the murder. Unfortunately for Deed, the Arab ruler was in London to place a huge order with a British aircraft manufacturer, and pressure is piled on Deed by the British government, as well as by the sheikh's own. The plot thickens when counsel for the prosecution is also killed and Deed's lover, Jo Mills, takes over the case, and when he hears that Georgina Channing, his former wife, is engaged to marry Neil Haughton, the government minister fighting for the aeroplane order. Before long, witnesses disappear and the jury is being interfered with - by the British Government, no less. And then Deed gets an offer they think he can't refuse, when appointment as an Appeal Court judge is dangled before him.

Jo Mills leads for the prosecution and Brian Cantwell for the defence when a British member of parliament, Alan Roxborough, is tried on a charge of attempting to murder his boyfriend with a frying pan. As usual, there is a conspiracy in the background to pervert the course of justice, which may be connected to Roxborough's opposition to certain British arms deals.Meanwhile, Deed goes into therapy and has a brief affair with his therapist.

Deed's fling with a woman claimant in his court gets him into hot water. His brother judges are appalled, and Deed finds himself exiled to Warwick.Meanwhile, Jo is sitting as a judge in a trial in which a company secretary is accused of stealing more than four million pounds from the arms king Sir Tim Listfield. Allegations are made during the trial about senior politician Neil Haughton, the close friend of Deed's former wife Georgina - Haughton is said to have taken bribes to over-pay on government defence work. Jo is threatened, and Deed comes home to help her.