Chartered accountant David Stephens, physician Juliet Miller and journalist Alex Law share a flat in Edinburgh. Needing a new flatmate, they interview several applicants in a calculatedly cruel manner, amusing themselves at the applicants' expense before finally offering the room to the mysterious Hugo. Shortly after Hugo moves in, the trio finds him dead from an apparent overdose in his room, with a large suitcase full of money. They agree to conceal the death, keep the money for themselves and bury the body in the woods after removing the hands and feet to prevent identification. They draw lots, and David is given the gruesome task of dismembering the corpse, while Juliet disposes of the hands and feet in her hospital's incinerator.