Cambridge 1392. Matthew Bartholomew physician to Michaelhouse College is called to examine some mysterious bones found in the Kings Ditch. Next day he is called to the Ditch again: a student has been found dead there. Meanwhile there is unrest in the town & the strange disappearance of Dominica former lover of the dead student & daughter of Waterstone the well-known Principal of a Cambridge student hostel. Are these events connected? Then a skeletal hand is found in the Ditch hailed by townsfolk as the final remains of local martyr Simon d Ambrey & hence a holy relic. When Bartholomew finds that the hand is wearing a ring apparently identical to a pair that were worn by Dominica & her ex-lover & now missing he knows that his investigative skills are called for.