William and Hester want to show Scuff that they care, and their concern is the confession of Judge Sullivan, saying that Arthur Ballinger, Margaret's father, was behind the crimes of pornography of young boys. So William tells Oliver that he is going to investigate, and all Oliver tells him is that he shouldn't start a witchhunt that may hurt innocent people.
A body is discovered, and Monk and Sergeant Orme are called. The dead man is Mickey Parfitt, a well-known criminal. The man who discovered his body was Orrie Jones, who works for him. Orrie is mentally slow, and he says that Parfitt asked him to take him to h is boat and pick him up an hour later. When he wasn't there, Orrie went to bed, thinking that he must have misunderstood his boss. Yet, when he wasn't there the next day, he worried and went to alert another man working for Parfitt, Tosh, but he didn't heed him. Orrie then found the body.
When Monk and Orne go to Parfitt's boat, they discover the same arrangement that they found with Jericho Phillips, that is, a well-furnished saloon with a stage, and after searching the place, they find a group of young boys who do not understand what is happening to them. Both Monk and Orne think that Parfitt does not deserve pity, but they know that murderers needt o be accountable.
Parfitt was strangled with a knotted material after he had been struck in the head. The police surgeon tells Monk that the material is a man's cravatt, and the motiff is quite peculiar, golden leopards. Monk and Orne investigate, and they discover that the cravatt belongs to Rupert Cardew, a young man who is known for his dissipated life and his problems. Rupert is friendly to Hester as he donates quite a lot of money to the clinic. Monk has no other option than arrest him.
Lord Cardew, Rupert's brother, goes to see Oliver, who agree to represent his son. When he goes to see him in prison, Rupert claims that he didn't kill Parfitt. He says that he was acquainted with the man. Once when he was out with friends, one of them mentioned something forbidden and daring, and they all went to Parfitt's boat. They were all drunk. Rupert says that there were young boys, and as something obligatory, they were made to take their photographs. Rupert was quite disgusted by what he saw there, and he never returned but then Parfitt started to blackmail him. Yet, he says he didn't kill Parfitt. He remembers that the night Parfitt was killed, he rowed his own boat to Chiswick and then went to be with a prostitute. He remembers taking off his cravatt, but after that, he does not remember what happened to his cravatt. He thinks someone stole it from him. Oliver believes him but he has little to base his defence on.
When Oliver tells Margaret about defending Carew, she is disapproving and tells him to refuse. He says that someone should defend that man who knew about what happened to little boys and didnt say anything. She is very upset that Oliver accepted the case. I have to say that I don't understand her. In the last book Oliver defended Jericho Phillips at the behest of her father, and she wasn't so disapproving.
Like always, I am enjoying this new case for Monk, Hester and Oliver. I wonder if they will find evidence against Arthur Ballinger, which will mean heartbreak for Margaret. And who killed Parfait? Could Arthur have had him killed because he knew too much?
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