Travelling in bad weather on a very slow stopping train through the English countryside, Appleby encounters Everard Raven a compiler of encyclopaedias and the senior member of a prominent local family. Insisting that Appleby is very likely to miss the branch line connection, he invites him to stay at his country estate. When they arrive at the small village station, appropriately named Appleby's End, the Inspector soon encounters various other members of the eccentric but friendly Raven family, all artistically inclined. In particular when they are separated from the others he bonds with Judith, an attractive young sculptor, when they have to shelter in a haystack from the cold.
