1952. In a very upmarket London brothel, two people - a patron and a prostitute - are found dead.

The establishment is frequented by some of the most influential figures in the country - MPs, senior civil servants, military officers, businessmen, members of the peerage, etc. Some thirty years earlier, an attempt to close the place down had ended in ignominious failure.

Whether this is a double murder or a murder and suicide is unclear. But whichever it might be, the deaths have occurred in a place with very sensitive connections (and a history which has become a legend in the Metropolitan Police). The head of the local police division immediately calls in Scotland Yard, and Detective Chief Superintendent Bryce is appointed to investigate.

The first problem to be sorted out concerns the victims. Which one was the intended target? Various people have some sort of motive for killing one or other of them.

Then, the following day, there is another murder - the house owner's chauffeur.

Aided by his old colleague DCI Haig, and DI Unwin from the local Division, Bryce sifts through the servants, call girls, and clients to find out what happened, and why.