The wealthy American entrepreneur Albert Benjamin Pendleton owns the Midnight Fire club in London's Pall Mall-an exclusive club for the rich and famous, with visitors from around the world.
When one of its wealthiest clients, an Australian named Cecil Anthony Hart, is found murdered, the police arrest Pendleton for the crime. Pendleton's secretary, William McPherson, engages Sherlock Holmes to clear the American. But Scotland Yard calls in Surrey's most proficient investigator, Inspector Baynes-the only official to have ever matched Sherlock Holmes in his investigative skills.