Edinburgh 1809 - and a baby is found in Candlemaker Row. Nineteen years later the paths of two women Miss Candida Forbes of Charlotte Square and Mary Paterson, of the dark and evil Grassmarket. How are they linked? Ross Alexander Laing, in Edinburgh to study anatomy, holds the key to the mystery. Candida is drawn to this tall, elegant man, but why has he tried to separate her from her fiance - and why did he arrive accompanied by a dead body in a coffin? Can she really trust him with her terrible secret?