Archivist Maud Pell has spent eleven years in the Bodleian's Victorian police records, cataloging what other people would rather left unread. The sealed box from a dead solicitor's estate is the one file she was paid to forget.
Inside are 1871 depositions against a London cabman-all in one hand, all signed by a constable who never existed. The depositions sent three innocent men to the gallows. One of them was Maud's grandfather.
When a visiting historian asks for the box and then dies in the reading room at 4:15, Maud understands what the file is worth. She has already photographed every page. Now she must move a century of buried paperwork into the light without losing her job, her pension, or her life.
A Victorian historical mystery for readers who believe the archive holds the confession.
