""Sholto Joseph Lestrade, I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Mrs. Millicent Millichip on January 13th last."" "Lestrade has never been arrested before. Nor, for that matter, has the old Scotland Yard detective been on death row. But when a woman dies in his arms on a foggy London day, the Fates are against him." "Millicent Millichip, it turns out, is not the only victim. She's just the first in a series of murders where the only clue is the Devil's calling card. And the Devil strikes in such diverse places as the croquet lawn at Castle Drogo, the theatre of war-games on Hounslow Heath, and the offices of Messrs Constable, publishers extraordinaire." The condemned cell at Pentonville prison is a lonely place, even for a man with a loving family and friends. Some of those friends, working to save Lestrade from his execution, are rather powerful. But the questions is, are they powerful enough?