An exotic, venomous cobra bites a chambermaid at the elegant Hotel Meurice, and news of the bizarre death quickly reaches Inspector Gautier's table at the Moulin Rouge. Reluctantly quitting his glamorous assignment as temporary attache to the Prince of Wales, the clever detective uncovers a murder plot against Armand de Perigold - a notoriously dissolute millionaire who has provoked much scandal and made scores of enemies among the socialites of Paris. So when a bomb goes off in Perigord's carriage, Gautier finds himself with many leads and few answers in this intricate roundelay of salacious gossip, treacherous blackmail, and deadly deception. Gautier discreetly protects the reputations of his society patrons while navigating the salons of the haut monde to expose the villain. None of this restrains the gratin from pursuing their endless fetes, liasons, and sly slander.