Thomas De Quincey, author of the scandalous works “Confessions of an English Opium Addict” and “Murder as One of the Fine Arts,” has phenomenal insight. He helped the London police expose a dangerous criminal and thwart his plans. Now Thomas and his daughter Emily are going home to Edinburgh, which greatly pleases the British Home Secretary Lord Palmerston, who fears that the writer might have learned some facts that are not subject to disclosure during the investigation. But before leaving, De Quincey and Emily decide to attend a church service in the Church of St. James - and witness a sophisticated murder, the first in a long chain.