Lynley and Havers are assigned to a new case back in London, following the discovery of a body floating in the Thames. The victim, Eric Ramsey, was a doorkeeper at the House of Lords. On closer inspection, it appears that he has been savagely beaten, having had his hands tied behind his back. Initially, it looks as if the murder may be connected to Ramsey's gambling debts, but when a Clerk at the House of Lords is also murdered, events seem to point to a wider conspiracy involving stolen documents.