“The beast came out of the abyss...” Evelina Todd, a saleswoman from a bookstore, foresees Death. Is she mad? But why then does every nightmare of hers come true? Why do witnesses to brutal murders claim to have seen a monstrous Beast in the dark alleys of Victorian Edinburgh, similar to dragons from ancient Celtic legends? The police either dismiss the “madwoman” or suspect her of aiding the killer. And only the eccentric Professor McKnight and his “Doctor Watson” - the gloomy and poetic Irishman Canavan - decide to take the girl’s words seriously...