Abstract:
Word is received in Thorney Palace of the death by multiple stab wounds of a West Country nobleman. The local Sheriff believes it is murder. However, since the corpse offers no bribes, that official gives the matter little priority.
Deputy Justiciar William the Scribbler is sent west to solve the crime. He steps into the middle of a long standing dispute between noble families, the victim’s and some obviously suspect close neighbors. However, after failing in his mission, the second family is all but wiped out in an attack on the first. Undaunted, the Deputy eventually identifies the killer.