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Spoilers Ahead!
June 1940
A young man by the name of David Beale addresses a panel of assessors who are considering his request to be exempted from military service on the grounds of conscientious objection."War is evil. It's irrational and if history has taught us anything, it's that war only leads to more war, more killing, bigger armies. And you want me to join up. What you are asking me to do is to take a lesson in murder. That's really all it is and I'm standing here today because that is a lesson I refuse to take."
Judge Lawrence Gascoigne dismisses his appeal. Beale protests and is dragged out of the tribunal, arrested for breach of the peace and taken to the Hastings police station where the desk sergeant tells him that they have a special welcome for conscientious objectors. The young man is stripped naked and thrown into a cell where two officers subject him to harsh treatment, hosing him with a fierce jet of cold water.Later that day, Beale's wife tries to see him but is told to return in official visiting hours. That night a duty policeman finds Beale hanging in his cell, still naked.
* * *
Foyle arrives at Hastings Town Hall for a meeting of the Invasion Committee comprised of himself, Lawrence Gascoigne and Raymond Brooks, a local businessman. Brooks disagrees with Foyle about how much information to give the defence volunteers. Hastings is designated Class "A", which means that they are expected to hold out for a full seven days in the event of a German invasion. He wants to tell his local defence volunteers what the situation truly is. Foyle says it is unnecessary to be too specific, as they can prepare for the worst without painting too vivid a picture. Preventing panic is a large part of their job. 
As Gascoigne accompanies Foyle down the stairs of the town hall, he tells him that Brooks is a good man who was in the last war but feels left out this time round.Back in the police station Foyle tells Sam that he can't bear the thought of cooking for himself, so instead of taking him home she can drop him at Carlo's restaurant just around the corner from his house. Sam takes him there and manages to wangle an invitation to join her boss.
Carlo Lucciano greets Foyle warmly as he enters. Foyle introduces him to Sam and Carlo tells her to look after her boss because he works too hard. A young waiter brings wine to the table and takes an interest in Sam. Foyle introduces him as Tony, Carlo's son. When Tony goes to fetch the food, Foyle explains that theyoung man was born in Bermondsey and has never been out of the country.In the large country home of Lawrence Gascoigne, an eleven-year-old boy goes into the library and after looking in the
drawers, begins copying something into a battered exercise book. Emily Gascoigne finds him there and he runs away. She then joins her husband and daughter Susan in the drawing room where a conversation ensues about the boy, who is an evacuee from London taken in by the Gascoignes at Susan's encouragement. Emily says he is ungovernable and is always poking and prying, and her husband, too, is unhappy at his being there. Susan says they do not have to worry any more as Joe's father is coming to take him back home.
Foyle and Sam leave Carlo's restaurant. As they stand beside the Wolesley, Tony emerges from the restaurant and startles Sam by asking if she will go dancing with him on Friday evening. Sam accepts and as Tony retreats into the restaurant Foyle gives his driver a knowing look, pops his trilby onto his head and tells her that he will walk home.
Late in the evening a young man calls into Carlo's and finds Tony sweeping up. Tony is not pleased to see him. His friend Jack tells him that he'd been let out of Borstal (detention for young offenders) early because places are needed for war detainees. He says he is thinking of paying a visit to the judge who sentenced him. When Tony asks what he will do to him, he replies, "I'll think of something."
* * *
Next day while playing golf with Foyle, Hugh Reid brings up the subject of the man who died in custody. He says everything points to suicide, but all the officers on duty that night have been very unforthcoming, backing one another up to the hilt. Foyle remarks that it probably means they are lying and Reid says that is what he is afraid of, and asks Foyle to make inquiries from outside the uniformed branch.
Theo Howard goes to the farm run by David Beale's widow Florence to give her his condolences. He says he would like to meet the man who headed the tribunal. "He kills David and we do nothing? Because we're pacifists, that's what we do." Florence says there is nothing they can do and he replies, "I wonder."At a quarter past one next morning Emily's sleep is disturbed by her husband saying that he has heard a noise downstairs. Gascoigne goes to investigate and a short while later Emily sits up in bed, unable to understand why she suddenly feels very cold.
The sound of breaking glass brings Emily and Susan running down the stairs. Someone has thrown a brick through the window. Gascoigne picks it up and finds a piece of paper attached on which printed words have been stuck. The message reads: "You too will receive justice."Foyle speaks to the Gascoignes later that day about the note. He wonders why, if someone really intended the judge harm,
he or she would send a warning. As Emily shows Foyle out, Joe watches from hiding. Foyle comments that it is a beautiful house and Emily says that it has been in her family for generations. Her husband complains that it is a rambling place and they use only half of it. He says they sometimes talk of moving somewhere a bit more manageable, but Emily immediately responds that it is her home and she would never do that.Foyle finds Joe beside the Wolesley, scribbling in his notebook. Sam warns the boy that there is a policeman standing behind him and he takes off. Foyle asks who he is, to which Sam replies, "I don't know, but he's got our number."
In the car, Sam suggests to Foyle that the words stuck onto the threatening note be traced to see which papers they came from, as that might tell him something about the person who sent them. Her boss replies dryly, "Well that had occurred to me, y'know."
As they travel, Foyle and Sam do not see a man run across the road on his way to the Gascoigne's summerhouse.
At the station Milner reports to his boss that there were four officers on duty the night Beale died. He thinks the duty officer William Ferris is the one the DCS should see, especially as he has a brother wounded at Dunkirk, which might be relevant, Beale being a conscientious objector. He points out that Beale's hair was wet, his clothes were damp when he was found and his shirt buttons were done up the wrong way. Foyle is thoughtful for a moment and then produces the threatening note, which he asks Milner to check out. "And if you don't know what to do with it, ask Sam." He gives a little grin, but Milner is mystified.
Foyle examines the cell in which Beale's body was found. He looks at a reel of emergency fire hose immediately outside the door and finds it wet.
In an interview room he questions Sergeant Ferris in conversational tone as one policeman to another. Ferris remarks flippantly that perhaps Beale hanged himself because he was scared of the dark. Foyle says, "Well, I can't put that in a report, y'see, and that's what all this is about - reports. Y'see, man dies in police custody and we've got to investigate, even a man like Beale. Yes, it's a waste of my time, a waste of your time, but…" Ferris gets the impression that his boss does not like conscientious objectors and when Foyle responds sympathetically to being told that the sergeant's brother was wounded at Dunkirk, he believes he has an ally and offers to tell the DCS everything "off the record". Foyle says that he probably knows but just needs a few details to fill in the blanks. He explains that he knows Beale was dressed only after he was found because his buttons were done up the wrong way. "And his hair was wet. Was that because, em, you sprayed him down with that hose?"Ferris says that was just a joke. He admits it was his idea, but he didn't think the man would hang himself. Foyle smiles conspiratorially and remarks, "Not that he's any great loss."
The sergeant replies, "One dead conshie, who cares?"
Foyle's smile fades as he looks down at his file and says quietly, "Yeah."
Ferris asks what the DCS is going to put in his report and Foyle says, "Well, I thought I'd start with your arrest for aggravated assault, which resulted in this man's suicide, and finish off with your dismissal from the police force."
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