Richard Jury is meeting Tom Williamson at Vertigo 42, a bar on the forty-second floor of an office building in London's financial district. Despite inconclusive evidence, Tom is convinced his wife, Tess, was murdered seventeen years ago. The inspector in charge of the case was sure Tess's death was accidental -- a direct result of vertigo -- but the official police inquiry is still an open verdict and Jury agrees to re-examine the case. Jury learns...