In the gathering dusk of the Devonshire countryside, Nicholas Picard is riding home when a snarling wildcat attacks him. Neighbours find his lacerated body in the woods, but when they discover the slit in his throat, it soon becomes clear that human hands are responsible for his demise.

Picard's death complicates an already difficult land dispute that Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret have been sent to settle in nearby Exeter. The murdered man had a stake in the outcome, and now his widow, Catherine, believes she should be the rightful owner of the land in question. However, Picard's mistress and the mother of a previous deed holder see things very differently. So determined is each woman to prove her claim that Ralph and Gervase begin to wonder whether one of them is capable of murder.