While hunting in the Forest of Arden, Henry Beaumont discovers the crushed body of a former member of his household. Flying into a rage, he soon arrests Boio, a local blacksmith, who was seen in the area, though the man disputes this.
Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret arrive in Warwick to find the place in a frenzy. Though there to resolve property disputes on behalf of William the Conqueror, the pair are soon involved with preventing a miscarriage of justice, as the evidence against the blacksmith is flimsy at best.
But with Beaumont deaf to reason, the race is on to find the anonymous man the blacksmith claims can corroborate his story before he's sent to the gallows.