The Metropolitan Police is in crisis. A senior officer of Scotland Yard's Murder Squad has been shot dead by one of his own men, and it seems that the police are no closer to solving the grisly murders of prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of London. Is the murderer trying to emulate Jack the Ripper? Or is there an even more sinister motive behind the killings? Could it be that the shooting of one of their own officers by a detective sergeant really was justified; that the officer was the murderer they were trying to find and he was about to attack? Bringing in a former Head of MI5 to lead the investigation team just seems to make everything worse. But, worse still, a notorious hit man is now targeting senior police officers.

Perhaps outside assistance is needed, and not from any of the conventional law enforcement agencies; someone who can operate without necessarily working within the constraints imposed on law-abiding police detectives. Surely there isn't a widespread conspiracy within the Metropolitan Police Force itself?