A lost constable, but Sgt. Watt refuses to join his colleagues in jumping to conclusions. PC Boyle has been transferred to Newtown with a black mark on his record. Everyone knows why, and only John Watt is convinced of Boyle's good character.

When No. 18 alarm bell rings in Newtown station Watt and Blackitt brace themselves for trouble. For No. 18 is Mercer's Universal Stores and Mr. Mercer is a notoriously difficult character.

A particularly nasty wave of 'flu has decimated the staff at Newtown with Barlow and Blackitt among the victims. To add to the problems Weir and Baker are away sitting examinations, so a temporary team of Smith and Graham are manning Z_Victor One. They investigate when a baby is found abandoned in a cafe, while Watt and Lynch cope with a mysterious outbreak of garden gate stealing on the North Estate.

Three suspects arrive in the Newtown area. Graham and Baker are instructed to warn them off. Lynch, using a different approach, finds himself drinking with them all evening. Then two of the interlopers are found in a crashed car surrounded by very valuable antiques. The case is important enough to keep Barlow working on his day off.

The police have to deal with depravity in all its guises - both of the body and of the mind.

Her love for a man on the run lands a girl in trouble with the law.

A young engaged couple have spent six months decorating and furnishing their new home, when two weeks before their marriage someone breaks in and smashes everything up. They are the latest victims of 'the destructive thief'.