An old man dies, and with him goes "the last hope of the mad and desperate" in Paris. Alexander Reisden, ex-madman, refuses to be mad or desperate anymore. He intends to live a normal life. But he takes on the job of closing Dr. Jouvet's company. And to do it, he must solve the old man's last case: a mother accused of killing her child.

Is she innocent? Guilty but insane? And what is Reisden? As he is unwillingly drawn deeper into the case, he uncovers a world of bravery, sacrifice-and a clue hidden in children's toys, unseen...