One dead blacksmith
One missing witness
One agent with a very big problem


When an itinerant blacksmith dies in the village of Fontis, Ibram Ucalegon is sent to report back on the unattended death. No one thinks much about it. Hard-living old men die all the time, after all, and little changes except the name in the record of testimony.

But when Rustam Monbrith, the man who found the deceased, suddenly disappears on the day of the inquiry, the circuit court judge invokes an ancient and deadly punishment from Vissilia's war-torn past: If the First Finder is not returned, then the entire village will pay the price.

Now, Rustam's pretty sister begs the Sect of Seven Fires for aid and Lady Azadiya is looking very carefully into Ibram's future as one of her agents.

Did Ibram sign off on a natural death, when the verdict should have been murder? Or is Rustam Monbrith hiding some other secret?