In colonial Egypt, a British police officer sets out on a daring hunt for drug smuggling gangs operating along the notorious Cairo Road.

Antonio Riccardi, a rare stamp dealer who is secretly a hired killer, pays for the violin lessons of his gifted brother Giuseppe. To meet the expenses of Giuseppe's concert debut he accepts a further job, but his decision to do so provides Detective Inspector Carson, who has long hoped to ensnare Tony, with an opportunity that might now enable him to bring about his downfall.

In 1904 London, neighbors begin to suspect that a very strange man calling himself Dr. Fell may indeed be the famous Jack the Ripper.

Kicked out of Oxford, a junk dealer's son joins a gang of thieves fenced by his father.