In 1860 Scotland Yard's 'Prince of Sleuths' Jack Whicher is sent to rural Wiltshire to investigate the murder of three-year-old Saville Kent,snatched from his bed at night and killed.Saville's nurse Elizabeth Gough is a prime suspect but released for want of evidence though local Superintendant Foley is convinced it is an inside job. Foley gives his help grudgingly,disdainful of 'modern' methods,speculating that Saville woke to see Elizabeth with a lover,possibly Saville's father,an unpopular man. Part of a woman's torn garment is found,stained in blood,and Constance,Kent's sixteen-year-old daughter from his first marriage, claims she lost a night-gown. Dr. Stapleton,the family physician,tells Whicher that Constance,like her mother,is dangerously unstable and jealous of Saville. Both she and younger brother William hate their stepmother Mary,their former nanny,with whom Kent cuckolded their mother. Whicher arrests Constance but fails to get a confession from her and,at her trial,a clever lawyer gets her acquitted,discrediting Whicher,who suffers a breakdown. Saville's killer is never caught. 反映了英国维多利亚时代的生活百态，不错的认识历史生态的样本。烂尾案复工。shall not god search this out for he knoweth the secrets oft heart!。一部苦涩无味的电影。有时候没有答案的生活挺好的……。 故事发生在1860年一个炎热的夏天，午夜时分，一幢豪华精致的别墅之中，肯特一家人陷入了沉睡，谁也不知道，在夜幕的掩护之下，罪恶和鲜血正浸润着他们甜美的梦。隔日，肯特家里发生的凶杀案震惊的整个小镇，人们纷纷猜测，会有怎样隐秘黑暗的勾当发生在这冠冕堂皇的表象之下。 名侦探惠彻（帕迪·康斯戴恩 Paddy Considine 饰）受雇介入了此案，然而，被破坏殆尽的犯罪现场、笨手拙舌的当地助手和没有留下一丝线索的高明犯罪手段令惠彻的调查陷入了困境之中。更糟糕的是，惠彻必须想方设法令肯特一家人相信，那位冷酷残暴的凶手，就隐藏在他们其中。
