The provided text consists of excerpts from the novel A Storm in the Blood, which chronicles the lives and activities of a group of early 20th-century Latvian Jewish political radicals who have emigrated to London, including the painter and anarchist Peter Piatkow. The narrative primarily tracks Rivka Bermansfelt, a young woman who flees Latvia after her father's anti-Russian action and finds herself associated with the revolutionary cell known as Liesma, led by Karl (George Gardstein). This group uses organized theft, or "exes," to fund their struggle against Tsarist control of their homeland, often facing intense prejudice as foreign "alien criminals" in England. The central conflict revolves around the disastrous jewel robbery known as the Houndsditch Murders, in which several police officers are killed, setting off a massive manhunt for the perpetrators. The police pursuit leads directly to the climactic Sidney Street Siege, where Karl is killed and Peter Piatkow, though not the primary shooter, achieves mythical status by disappearing, leaving his friends and associates to face trial and deportation.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.