To friends and enemies alike，it looks as thoughDetective Inspector Tom Thorne's career is on theskids．But his situation is not as di re as that ofLondon's homeless．

Three men，sleeping rough on streets paved withanything but gold，have been mu rdered—each victimkicked to death and found with af20 note pinned to hischest．Were they killed at random or were they ta rgetedfor a reason?

Thorne is seconded to the same streets．Not as a policemen On the beat but as one of life's rejects．It fits：he looks the pa rt—and feels It as well．In a ha rsh and ha rrowing netherworld，with its own rules and moraI code，Thorne discovers the horrifying link between the homeless victims and the perpet rators of a fifteen-year-old at rocity．Those who know a re saying nothing．But the word on these streets is that the killer is a cop．A policeman，it seems，was sniffing a round long before Thorne came on the scene...