Famous magistrate John Fielding, known as the Blind Beak to the mob, is to be honoured with a knighthood. The founder of the Runners, London's metropolitan police force, is only one of several important figures who gather at St James's Palace for the investiture. As the audience eagerly crane for a glimpse of the new queen - rumoured to be the ugliest England has ever seen - nobleman George Goward tumbles down the palace's great staircase to his death. Only one person witnessed anything untoward - John Fielding, a blindman. A whispered sentence, an exhalation of breath - these are the only clues to suggest the fall was no accident. Apothecary John Rawlings, accompanying the magistrate to the ceremony, offers his investigative skills once more and is soon drawn into the middle of a very puzzling mystery...