In a small town, Eastfield, three young men are murdered. Their deaths are horrifying—they are garroted with an interval of three days, as if the killer were performing a bloody ritual. One of the victims is the son of an influential brewer in the area, who believes that only Scotland Yard can solve such a crime. That is how Inspector Rutledge appears in Eastfield. He must find the motive that connects the murdered men and the killer. And he has only three days to do it—otherwise the already scheduled victim will avoid death no longer.