Assistant Commissioner of the London Police, retired general, diplomat, judge, banker... The interests of all these people have never intersected. But on the same day, they all receive anonymous letters from the same blackmailer, who threatens to tell the newspapers about unsavory acts they have committed in the past. Now each of them may lose the most precious treasure that a person from high society can have - an impeccable reputation. And the general is no longer just being scared - a corpse is found on the threshold of his house, an ominous warning about the seriousness of his intentions... Thus, Superintendent Thomas Pitt will have to investigate two cases at once, complicated by the fact that one of the blackmailed is his immediate superior, and the other is an old good friend his wife Charlotte...