Ray Hawkins is a DCI in a run down police station in the East End of London. He is a no-nonsense copper from the old school of policing, and an expert thief-taker. When he is called upon by the British Security Service to interview two petty criminals in relation to a burglary at a high profile address in Westminster, he uncovers a plot by a two hundred year old American secret society to overthrow the British monarchy. In the course of his investigations he finds that the society has infiltrated the highest corridors of power in both Britain and the United States.