In 1913 suffragette Emily St John-Carstairs and her husband disappear from their South London home under mysterious circumstances. The scene shifts to 1958, where Teddy Bean, a former juggler turned private detective, is hired by Emily's sister to find her.

As the story unfolds between the two decades, we follow the fortunes of an unprincipled parlour maid, an unemployed alcoholic cook and a mysterious gentleman known only as ‘Bob’, all of whom are in some way linked to Emily’s fate. Added into the mix, is the ex-juggler's schizophrenic, knife-wielding wife but what part does she play in Emily’s story?