The freshly dead body sprawled on the doorstep of General Brandon Ballantyne’s home, is an affront to every respectable sensitivity. The general denies all knowledge of the shabbily dressed victim, but Pitt does not believe him. In the dead man’s pocket he finds a rare snuff box that up until recently graced the general’s study. Pitt must tread carefully as it seems that many men, including his own police boss, are deeply involved in a complex web of blackmail, and further deaths may follow…