A Christmas visitor
It is mid-December and Henry Rathbone travels to the Dreghorn family manor house near Ullswater to comfort the family following the death of his friend, the master of the house. It seems that Judah Dreghorn slipped while crossing a stream on the estate in the middle of the night, and drowned. When Henry arrives, he finds that Ashton Gower, recently released from jail, is slandering Judah's name, claiming that his family rightfully owns the estate and that the forged deeds for which he was imprisoned were in fact genuine. To Henry and the two remaining Dreghorn brothers, also returning to the Lakes for Christmas, Judah's mysterious death and Gower's outrageous claims seem inextricably linked.