Keeping watch over the Easter Sepulchre, where the Host and crucifix are stored between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, is considered a privilege. So it is shocking when it is discovered that Odo, the priest's clerk, has abandoned his post. But as the hours pass and Odo is not found, Hugh de Singleton is called upon.

It is Hugh that finds the dried blood before the altar, and fear grows for the missing man ... Will Hugh be called upon to investigate another murder, or will the man be found hale and hearty? But if so, where has the blood come from?