There is nothing unusual about the barrel-organ man who walks into private detective Louie Knight's office. Apart from the fact that he has lost his memory. And, his monkey is a former astronaut. And, he is carrying a suitcase that he is too terrified to open. And, he wants a murder investigated. The only thing unusual about the murder is that it took place a hundred years ago. And, needs solving by the following week. Louie is too smart to take on such a case, but also too broke to turn it down. Soon, he is lost in a labyrinth of intrigue and terror, tormented at every turn by a gallery of mad nuns, gangsters and waifs, and haunted by the loss of his girlfriend, Myfanwy, who has disappeared after being fed drugged raspberry ripple.