Lynley and Havers are called to a meat market to inspect a deep frozen body. A forged passport and a page from a rare religious artifact lead the pair into the murky worlds of people trafficking and stolen antiquities in search of their murderer. Aided by an expert from the British Library, the pair soon find a dealer in stolen Arabic artifacts who agrees to try to acquire the rare book for them. Meanwhile, the post mortem examination of the dead body reveals that he had renal failure and needed dialysis. The clinic provides an address of the victim's wife and brother but what is the connection between the victim and the artifact? When the dealer is killed trying to organise the sale of the artifact to Lynley and the victim's brother is seen fleeing the scene of the crime, the case seems solved, but is it? And where is the artifact? Written by Mark Smith