In 19th-century Baltimore, several policemen discover a murdered woman sprawled on the floor of her apartment, which was locked from the inside. While police search for the killer's means of escape, they discover a second corpse in the chimney, later identified as the 12-year-old daughter of the first victim. A celebrated detective, Emmett Fields (Luke Evans (actor)), is called to assist in the investigation and discovers that the crime resembles a fictional murder in a short story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", that he once read.