At a wedding party in cornwall in the summer of 1981, Chris napier is shocked to recognise a dishevelled intruder as his childhood friend nicky lanyon, whom he has not seen since his father, michael lanyon, was hanged fo...At a wedding party in cornwall in the summer of 1981, Chris napier is shocked to recognise a dishevelled intruder as his childhood friend nicky lanyon, whom he has not seen since his father, michael lanyon, was hanged for the murder Of Chris's great-uncle, Joshua carnoweth, in 1947. It was the inheritance of Old Joshua's fortune that led the then humble napier family to their present state of affluence.