A cold-blooded scoundrel

Philip Devlin, secretly gay, mid-thirties and a detective inspector with Scotland Yard, is summoned to a murder scene: a well-known male prostitute has been brutally murdered. Devlin suspects the killing to be the work of John Whittaker, an upper-class rake and Devlin's former lover. The next day at the office, Devlin finds a threatening note advising him that the killer has him in sight. One of Devlin's colleague advises him to take a leave of absence from his job, but Devlin demurs as he has no intention of disappointing his superior.