The King is dead June 13, of 1886, King Ludwig of Bavaria, otherwise known as Crazy Ludwig, the builder of many beautiful castles, friend of Wagner and patron of the arts, is found dead in Lake Starnberg along with his doctor. Their deaths are a mystery. A professor in Marburg, Germany is also found dead the same the same day. They all were friends of Friedrich Nietzsche, the great German philosopher. Nietzsche, now in retirement, goes to Sherlock Holmes to solve the case. Holmes accepts and the three proceed to Germany picking up along the way Mark Twain, who has finished a tour, the beautiful feminist Lou Salome, and the mysterious Dr. Liu. Much merriment ensues as ideas clash between six brilliant minds. Holmes solves the murders but finds himself in a morass of difficulties. The plot twists about when Holmes and his crew are summoned to the bedside of a wise man who tells him that only he can solve a 400 year old prophecy. The ever logical Holmes doubts the prophecy but he is told that if he does not act on it, Europe could be plunged into war.