The black book, or, Reign of terror

 Robespierre, a powerful figure in the French Revolution and the subsequent Reign of Terror, is desperately looking for his black book, a death list of those marked by him for the guillotine and a key to help him eventually emerge as the country's dictator. He hopes that his agents will recover it, but if it falls in to the wrong hands, it would mean his political ruin and death.