A leper's daughter is found in the well of a dying hamlet and the only suspect has fled into Feckenham Forest. But the sun is setting and Sir Alain, Warwickshire's sheriff, is hunting his new Crowner. That sends Sir Faucon de Ramis and Brother Edmund, his prickly clerk, racing for a nearby abbey only to meet the sheriff at the abbey gates. Before long, Faucon finds himself riding into the dark at Sir Alain's side as they hunt for yet another lost innocent.