The best inspector of the London police, Thomas Pitt, has finally received the long-awaited promotion - he became a superintendent. But he did not have a chance to rejoice at Fortune’s smile for long. For such a complex and scandalous case fell on the head of the newly appointed head of the Bow Street station that, without solving it, Thomas risked losing everything. In the very center of London, in Hyde Park, a body was discovered... without a head. The murdered man, Captain Winthrop of Her Majesty's Navy, was not seen in anything reprehensible, and he had no enemies. The matter was immediately taken under the highest control, and Pitt fully felt the harsh pressure from above. Meanwhile, terrible rumors about the Executioner from Hyde Park began to spread in society - especially after another headless corpse was discovered in almost the same place...