Ruso and Tilla, now newlyweds, have moved back to Britannia, where Ruso's old friend and colleague, Valens, has promised to help him find work. Of course, it isn't the kind of work he'd had in mind--he's tasked to find a missing tax man named Julius Asper.

Of course, there is also something else missing: money. And the Council of the town of Verulamium, is bickering over what's become of it. Tilla, meanwhile, has connected with Asper's widow, Camma, and anonymous letters start arriving, warning the couple to get away from the case before they get hurt. Despite our hero's best efforts to get himself fired from the job of investigator, he and his bride will once again find themselves at the center of it all…