April 1144. A body is found floating in Fladbury mill leat, a man in green who has been stabbed but not robbed. The lord sheriff's trio discover him to be an Evesham horse dealer, who has a beautiful young wife who 'strays'. Did the wife or one of her lovers get rid of him? What is the connection with the lord of Harvington, who wed the man's sister, and how did that lady meet her death? The trio have to work seamlessly together to unravel the thread that links seemingly disparate deaths before even more people die, and in the process keep Walkelin from the noose.