Who murdered solo violinist Lucy Carless during a concert by the Markshire Orchestra? There are several suspects, any one of whom might have strangled her with a silk stocking. Was it her first husband? Or her second? Womanizer Bill Ventry? Or perhaps the clarinetist and fellow Polish émigré, Zbartorowski, with whom she'd had a violent argument? Lawyer Francis Pettigrew, as reluctant honorary treasurer to the Markshire Orchestral Society, finds himself caught up with assisting the police in their investigations.