Rumpole successfully defends a teenager accused of robbery with violence, but his victory is marred by the knowledge that, although innocent on this occasion, the boy is destined for a life of crime.
Rumpole is very content to be defending a drugs case in the peace of the West Country. However, the outcome of the trial is not so pleasing.
An MP is accused of raping one of his assistants, and he seems reluctant to defend himself. Rumpole is left with only one line of defense: attack the complainant's character, thereby infuriating his son's American fiancee.
After a long spell without cases, Rumpole is apparently divorcing his old friend and colleague George Frobisher. His client, meanwhile, threatens to drive Rumpole's wife, Hilda, into the arms of her friend Dodo.
Rumpole accuses a dishonest policeman of framing his safecracker client and finds himself in legal trouble when he can't back up his claim.
Rumpole defends a stuttering, apparently mentally challenged petty crook on a murder charge. His client has all the evidence stacked against him, but Rumpole's battered old bowler hat seems to be stealing all the attention in chambers.
