Crabtree may be handling his last uniformed case, under Murdoch, pending his promotion and transfer, but finds Edna beaten by her returned husband sergeant Arthur and Simon reverting to purse-snatching, hence promises to protect them whatever it takes. An apparent serial killer leaves corpse after corpse, either missing a thumb or stuffed with a severed one. While the morgue fills it becomes clear all to fit a macabre game, organized through a fake seventh horse race published in a local sports magazine, using 'horse names' fitting killer-victims who have nothing in common. A survivor being Artful Detective, Murdoch acts as bait, but the reckoning is off one victim and one killer, affecting him and Crabtree.
—KGF Vissers