The Ashby family consists of Miss Beatrice Ashby ("Aunt Bee"), a 50-ish spinster, and the four children of her late brother Bill: Simon, 20; Eleanor, 18-19; and twins Jane and Ruth, 9. Bill and his wife Nora died in an airplane crash eight years before. Since then, the Ashbys, like many old families, have been short of money. Bee has kept the estate going by turning the family stable into a profitable business. The Ashbys breed and sell horses, train horses, and give riding lessons. All of them except Ruth ride frequently and work with the horses. The young Ashbys ride in equestriancompetitions and win prizes. There is also great-uncle Charles Ashby in the Far East. Charles is coming home for Simon's 21st birthday, which is in a few weeks, …ver más…

While Brat is willing to be a party to impersonating Patrick, he is unwilling to be a party to murder. After a long night of reflection spent wandering the countryside, Brat realizes how Simon killed Patrick while maintaining a solid alibi of spending the day at the blacksmith. He also realizes the trauma the public disclosure of Simon's crime and his own impersonation will have on the Ashby family, and agonizes over whether to expose Simon or let sleeping bodies lie and just "run away" again.

To help him decide, Brat pays a late night visit to the family's minister, Alex Loding's brother-in-law, to reveal his own crime and ask the minister's opinion on whether Simon's murder of Patrick should be kept secret. Although the minister is not surprised by Brat's revelation that he is not Patrick, he cannot believe that Simon murdered Patrick. He does, however, state that murder cannot simply be ignored, that to do so invites anarchy. His indecision gone, Brat decides to investigate Patrick's disappearance on his own to find the evidence needed to convince others of Simon's guilt. When he sneaks out the next night to visit the quarry at the bottom of which he has guessed Patrick's remains lie hidden, Simon is waiting and tries to kill him. During a struggle, the two young men fall into the quarry. Simon is killed and Brat seriously injured. Patrick's bones are found, proving