The plot revolves around the desperate struggle of the Masonic Order against another mystical society—the Knights Hospitaller (interestingly, the commanders of the latter were Paul I and Yeltsin)—for possession of a sacred relic, the <Ark of the Covenant>. Betrayal, intrigues, a tangled web of passions—and a detective investigation by the novel’s hero, a gentleman with a rather exotic biography and appearance.