April, 1941. At the former Whitechapel Road Underground station, repurposed as an air raid shelter since the onset of the Blitz, the body of a woman has been discovered, stabbed and eviscerated. With the ghoulish history of Jack the Ripper and his victims not far from their thoughts, Detective Chief Inspector Coburg and Sergeant Lampson are called from Scotland Yard to examine the scene.

In the station's dark and dingy tunnels they stumble across a battered Victorian doctor's case containing surgical tools. Has it been deliberately left to be discovered?

With the spectre of London's most famous killer looming large over their investigation, Coburg and Lampson are under pressure to swiftly conclude this very difficult case as more victims come to light. But that proves to be a challenge when King George and the Prime Minister Winston Churchill seek their help with a puzzling inquiry that also has links to Whitechapel.