Detective Murdoch investigates the murder of Dolly Capshaw, a mid-wife who, it turns out, was also an abortionist. Using new techniques such as fingerprints (or finger marks as they are known at the time) and handwriting analysis, Murdoch eliminates a number of suspects but has proof that a self-righteous and nosy neighbor, Mr. Golding, was in the house. Missing from Capshaw's desk is her register of clients, a large red book with the image of a dragon on the cover. Murdoch's investigation involves many people whose lives had, in one way or another, crossed with Capshaw's including Ettie Weston, who is no longer a prostitute but is now on the stage with a mentalist act and Maude Pedlow, the wife of a prominent Superior Court judge. Meanwhile, Constable George Crabtree is in training for the Toronto police boxing tournament under the tutelage of Inspector Ramsgate.