Shirane, a police inspector known as "the police within the police," is watching the final match of the prefectural police judo tournament when something unprecedented occurs: his colleague Miyagawa deliberately fractures the arm of their fellow colleague Sudo. Caught between personal bonds with his colleagues and his duty as an inspector, Shirane pursues the truth behind this bizarre act. A hard-boiled police procedural that illuminates the inner workings of the police organization.

A series of gruesome murders plague the streets of Edo: three nighthawks found dead with their organs removed. Kabayashi Tappei, a Dutch medicine physician at the Koishikawa Yojosho, learns that his senior colleague is under suspicion. Then, his own surgical scalpel is discovered inside the latest victim's body. To clear his name, Tappei and his mentor set out to uncover the true culprit. A period mystery short story set against the unique backdrop of Dutch medicine and Edo-era society.

A Dutch medicine physician risks his own innocence to unravel a series of murders lurking in the shadows of Edo.