In 1893, Max Greengrass is a stringer for the New York Herald, paid by the column inch. With no regular salary, Max must hustle for his stories, and late one night he nearly trips over one. He finds four cats lined up neatly on a Greenwich Village sidewalk. They have no visible wounds, but are undeniably dead. The story makes the paper and Max pursues it, from low dives to posh mansions, from a proper if eccentric society of refined ladies concerned about the suffering of stray felines, to a bizarre conspiracy of churchly landlords and respected insurers who are getting rich by exploiting the misery of others. And it doesn't stop there. The facts he uncovers suggest dark ideas Max can barely contemplate, arousing suspicions that terrify him. He goes to meet a source in a deserted saloon, only to find the man as dead as the cats that started it all. Soon his worst fears come to life. The story Max is stalking now stalks him.