The children of well-to-do widow Gillian Snape are worried that her photographer-fiancé Lester Rose is marrying her for her money, and hire Hetty to investigate Rose's past. With Geoffrey's help, Hetty learns that Rose is a gambler and a gigolo with several previous identities. Surprising facts revealed by two women from his past and Hetty's tense undercover visit to his studio expose a somewhat less thorny side of the man. Still, is he the marrying kind?

When a teenage pyromaniac terrorizes a neighborhood, the police are helpless as frightened victims refuse to testify against him. Enter Hetty, posing as the Irish sister-in-law of one of the residents. Her plan: infiltrate the local sewing circle and get the lowdown on Lenny the firebug and his gang.

Hetty seeks compensation for the victim of a road rage incident in which a female driver hit another in the face.

A clock aficionado suspects he's been handed stolen goods when two thugs bring him a valuable antique timepiece for repair. Meanwhile, Frank and Janet break Hetty's number-one rule by getting mixed up in a marital dispute. Oddly enough, the two cases turn out to be linked.

Robert's brother Frank comes to stay, and brings Hetty the case of a missing Victorian school ma'am.