Flood waters make it necessary to disinter the cherished bones of Saint Winifred leaving Brother Cadfael to solve the mystery of their theft and a murder at the Abbey in Shrewsbury in 1144.
Cripples Day at Shrewsbury attracts a multitude of pilgrims and soon a body appears in a leather sack in the middle of the pilgrims. Brother Cadfael sets out to discover how and why the man was killed.