Sir David Doddick
When British philosopher Harold Hilliard took off for Warsaw to lecture on the Dysteleological Surd, he had no idea that he would soon become embroiled in international espionage. During the trip he tried to open a suitcase he mistook for his own. When a fellow passenger, a Pole with stainless steel teeth, took umbrage, Hilliard put it down to bad manners, but when the same man saw him pick up the wrong coat in the plane, Hilliard realized that he was suspected of spying. The party at the airport to welcome Hilliard only convinced the Polish agent that the British Secret Service was now picking its men with extraordinary cleverness. Hilliard, whose works were little known in England, was warmed by unaccustomed praise but chilled by the apparent certainty of the counter espionage people that he was a British agent whose code name was Whale.
En la prisión de Toulouse está a punto de ejecutarse una sentencia de muerte, pero la torpeza del verdugo, al dejar un clavo en la guillotina, salva la vida del reo. Once años más tarde, una ola de chantajes asola la ciudad de Londres: ciudadanos de buena posición económica reciben una carta de extorsión en la que aparece impreso un círculo rojo. Todos los que no ceden al chantaje o avisan a la policía son fríamente asesinados, y siempre, junto a cada víctima, se encuentra un trozo de papel con un círculo rojo impreso. El inspector Parr, de Scotland Yard, y un célebre detective privado, Derrick Yale, unen sus esfuerzos en la investigación policial. Los crímenes siguen, pero poco a poco, las sospechas se van concentrando en un número reducido de personajes.
