Allison's family lives in a respectable area of London, where they have never heard of serial killers or terrible crimes. And when on Cater Street, literally next door to their house, young girls begin to die one after another, the entire neighborhood is horrified, and along with the rest is Charlotte Ellison, the middle daughter in the family. Gradually she comes to the conclusion that this is not the work of a robber or a desperate poor man from the slums - there are no such things here. It looks like the killer is someone from their circle who lives here. This means that it could be any of the neighbors, friends, relatives... Inspector Pitt, who is leading the investigation of these crimes, shares the same opinion. But neither he nor Charlotte yet know how dramatically their lives will soon change...