A pair of British officers insist that Maharaja Sikander Singh of Rajpore accompany them to the British Encampment. To his surprise, they take him to the King Emperor's quarters where Sikander's old school friend, Malik Umar Hayat Khan, awaits. Malik Umar is serving Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy and the highest-ranked Englishman in the country. Lord Hardinge, overruling several subordinates, tells Sikander that his services as a sleuth are needed by King and country. Sworn to secrecy, Sikander is ushered into George V's personal chambers. And there he finds an exquisite nautch-girl, hanged until dead. Sikander examines the scene and demonstrates the girl was not a suicide, but murdered.

When Major William Russell’s valet knocks on his bedroom door the morning after the 1909 New Year’s Ball and receives no response, he and the Major’s elderly secretary eventually task the English Commandant of Cavalry with breaking it down. The Resident is dead in his bed. The fabulously wealthy Maharaja, Sikander Singh, cannot resist an enigma. Wielding careful and deliberate logic to crack puzzles that leave less intelligent men confounded, he overcomes obstacles, false trails, and the growing hostility of the English Establishment. Will the Maharaja work through a surplus of suspects and motives before the British shut him down and cover up the truth about the Major’s death?