In the summer of 1365, on the eve of the great feast of Corpus Christi, all of York was shocked by the news of the mysterious murder of merchant Will Crowns, which occurred near the walls of the main cathedral. Moreover, Crowns's severed hand inexplicably ends up in one of the rooms of the city tavern, and soon Under strange circumstances, the guest living in this room, another merchant named Gilbert Ridley, dies. And again, everyone sees with horror that the corpse is missing its right arm. Concerned about what is happening, the Archbishop of York instructs the former archer captain Owen Archer to conduct a thorough investigation.