The worlds of journalism and politics collide in this story about an experienced journalist who desperately needs to scoop a big story in order to revamp his career. Deciding he'll take matters into his own hands, he frames a politician and arranges to be there when the story is leaked to the public. What he doesn't realize is that his own devious behavior is about to get him caught in the middle of a dangerous web of lies and murder.
Holmes & Watson receive a letter from an informant who known by the pseudonym Fred Porlock. Porlock is a man well connected with criminals. The letter is written in code, and Holmes determines that the code comes from the words in a book. They decipher the code by page and column and find that John Douglas of Birlstone House is in danger.
A ragtag group of kids set out to save derelict steam ferry Lady Hope from destruction.