In the isolated villages in the very north of Scotland villagers still rely on the services of itinerant chimney sweep Pete Ray and his old-fashioned brushes. Pete is always able to find work in the highlands until one day when Police Constable Hamish Macbeth notices blood dripping onto the floor of a villager's fireplace and a dead body stuffed inside the chimney. The entire town of Lochdubh is certain Pete is the culprit but Hamish doesn't believe it.