It is January, 1897, the local police have found evidence of what appears to be an ugly crime at the home of Dudley Kynaston, an important member of the Ministry of Defence. There is no corpse, but one of Kynaston's maids, Kitty Ryder, is missing, and in the alley just outside the house there is evidence of a terrible scuffle: blood, hair, torn fabric and shards of broken glass. Because of Kynaston's importance, Pitt and the Special Branch are called in to investigate.