The Vault (Inspector Wexford S.)

The impossible has happened. Chief
Inspector Reg Wexford has retired. He and his wife now divide their time between
Kingsmarkham and a coachhouse in Hampstead belonging to their actress daughter,
Sheila. For all the benefits of a more relaxed way of life, Wexford misses being
the law. But a chance meeting in a London street, with someone he had known briefly
as a very young police constable, changes everything. Tom Ede is now a Detective
Superintendent, and is very keen to recruit Wexford as an adviser on a difficult
case.

The bodies of two women and a man have been discovered in the old coal hole
of an attractive house in St John's Wood. None carries identification. But the
man's jacket pockets contain a string of pearls, a diamond and a sapphire necklace
as well as other jewellery valued in the region of 40,000. Wexford is intrigued
and excited by the challenge - until this new investigative role brings him into
serious physical danger.