Early one summer morning, two bombs explode in an East London street, shattering most of the houses. Forewarned of an attack by anarchists, Thomas Pitt of the Special Branch arrives in time to chase the bombers to a run-down tenement in Long Spoon Lane. There, two men are arrested and one shot dead - but who and where is the killer? As Pitt starts to investigate, he uncovers truths more disturbing than the acts of a few misguided idealists.