Set in first-century Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles, a murdered servant girl is found in the palace of King Herod Antipas. The prefect, Pontius Pilate, is in attendance. The populace has already been buzzing over the brutal death of one of their prophets, John, known familiarly as the Baptizer, and scandal is in the air. Pilate wants no trouble and insists that there be an independent investigation into the murder. But Antipas will have none of Pilate's men in the palace, so Pilate turns to Gamaliel, the chief rabbi and head of the Sanhedrin, and coerces him to do the detective work. Gamaliel, in Sherlockian fashion, begins to fit the pieces together. In spite of Pilate's impatience with the pace and direction of the investigation, he is rewarded when it turns out that the girl is not the mere servant that everyone had assumed.