Part 1

Jonathan's sister Miriam brings them a mystery: her childhood friend Hephzibah, a slave-girl from Jerusalem, claims her rich master set her free before he died. But now she can't find the witness.

They need advocates to plead her case, so Flavia recruits the young poet Flaccus and Lupus finds Floridius, a purveyor of sacred chickens. But when the witness is murdered, Hephzibah falls under suspicion.

Part 2

Jonathan has been having prophetic dreams of the death of someone close to him.

When Miriam dies in childbirth, his dream is fulfilled. But there is no time for grief: if Hephzibah is convicted she will die, too, and it was Miriam's dying wish that she care for her twin boys.

For Miriam's sake, the friends and Flaccus must find the real murderer and save Hephzibah.